Ash's Master Quest
by Shadow10503
Summary: They say that with great power comes great responsibility. Well when Ash discovers that power about a year after starting his journey and takes responsibility how much will his path change? What will he achieve and how easily will he achieve it?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in any way, shape or form. All Pokémon and the majority of the characters in this fan fiction belong to the same people.**

**I chose the name for the story that I did because that is what he has always dreamed of and is trying to work towards, to anybody that already uses this name for a story of their own I apologise.**

**This story will also quickly deviate from the plot of the episodes though it will still follow the same route so don't go blaming me if you're stupid enough to go getting my story and the episodes confused. :P**

**As that last comment suggested this story is based mainly on the anime but there will be influences from the games too, they will have larger affects later on but at that point if you know the episodes even slightly in that time period you will know the difference. I will be using some episodes as a basis for individual adventures but will also be creating my own adventures. The films will be in it but they may occur at slightly different times and with somewhat/substantially different plotlines due to how I want things to run. If there is something you have in mind that you would like to be in the story then let me know, I already have several plot ideas but I'm always ready for more.**

**I will try to release a chapter every week but I cannot guarantee anything yet as I will hopefully be leaving to start a university course soon and that will take up a lot of my time so I may not be able to write as quickly at that point. If that does happen then I will try to slow things down to a pace at which I can get out regular updates most of the time.**

**This is also the first story I have ever written apart from when they made us right short stories back at school but that is long gone now so I'm basically just going where my mind takes me and writing how it tells me too. Because I am so new to this I would be thankful to anyone who gives me some tips for general writing that could be useful. As for this story I would be grateful to know what people I think, if you think it's awesome and there's no way it could be improved (I sincerely doubt anyone will feel this way as everyone has their own way they think things should go) then thank you, if you think it's good but could be improved, let me know how you think it could be improved and I will think on what you say. If you don't really like it but can see ways for it to be improved then once again please let me know how for the sake of anybody who does like it. If you hate it for all sorts of reasons still let me know but if you hate it just to hate then please leave as I will ignore anything said by you. :) 'Cause I'm doing this for the fun of it but that doesn't mean I don't want to make it good and that means I need all the advice I can get.**

**By the end of the week I intend to have a poll up as to whether I should attempt a romance in this story, if I do that doesn't mean it's just going to be a sappy love story from then on or when they are actually together. For that matter most of those that I am considering will not be around all of the time as they have other things to do. E.g. Cynthia is one I'm considering, once Ash has aged a bit and have her slightly younger than she would be when they first met in the episodes too to bring them to similar ages, but if it is her in the end she will still be Sinnoh Champ so she won't be able to travel with Ash constantly due to her responsibilities. I will also be making the travelling companions and some other characters have unrequited romantic feelings for him just because I disliked their characters. E.g. Misty was too much of a pain in the neck in my opinion but Ash will try to be kind in letting them down.**

**By the way, this is rated T because I expect that there will be some explicit language and possibly violence in future chapters but I don't yet know the extent of either at the moment, if I decide not to put it in I will change the rating if possible.**

**Anyway that's all I can think of at the moment so on with the story.**

* * *

**Master Quest Chapter 1 – Mewtwo's Mistake**

"Stooooooop!"

There was an explosion of brilliant white light as two blasts of pure psychic energy, one pink and one blue, met. At their centre stood a boy, his name was Ash Ketchum. He wore a black shirt with white sleeves and a blue jacket over the top of it along with some jeans and a pair of black and white sneakers. Atop his head rested a red and white official Pokémon league cap, it covered his messy raven-black hair and shaded his dark brown eyes. But his body now glowed with a magenta aura as it fell towards the floor where he laid still, his body turned to grey stone.

"_Fool! Trying to stop our battle."_ was projected from the mind of the Pokémon that was the source of the blue force.

"Me-ew?" spoke the small pink cat that was its opponent and the source of the pink force.

"Pikapi!" then echoed around the Pokémon filled stadium as a small yellow mouse charged towards its trainer's body before coming to a halt before his head. He shook the body of the 11 year old, hoping desperately for some reaction as the Pokémon in the stadium called out and his friends watched in horror. He repeated his trainers name several times in his own language whilst trying to provoke a reaction with his electric attacks.

"Please no." said the orange headed girl who had been forced to her knees by the explosion. Her name was Misty and she was one of Ash's greatest friends and travelling companions. She, like Ash's other travelling companion Brock, would be lost without him and so hoped desperately that he would awaken.

As the Pikachu mustered the last of its strength for one last attempt which also failed it began to cry. All the other Pokémon present, excluding the two legendaries, joined his mourning but their tears never reached the ground. They were instead attracted to the dead boy's body, as if magnetised, before they disappeared into it making it glow a light blue. The humans and Pokémon watched the spectacle before them in awe before the glow started to fade but the stone did not. Suddenly both Mew and Mewtwo, the ones who had put him in this state, each shed a single tear which restored the glow even brighter than before. This time, as the glow faded it was clear that the boy had been restored to his original state. And so he was reborn to this world which we inhabit.

As the boy struggled to sit up and look around he lifted his head and laid eyes upon his most trusted companion, "Pikachu!" he exclaimed in joy as a smile spread across his face. The two shared a heart-warming embrace that all those present made it clear they approved of.

"_A human sacrificed himself to save the Pokémon. I pitted them against each other, but not until they set aside their differences did I see the true power they all share deep inside."_

"Mew" replied the smallest of the feline pair with a nod.

But then Mewtwo alone heard a new voice, much deeper and more powerful than any he had heard before. This voice alone could command great respect and he dreaded what would happen should he ever meet its owner. _"To him this sacrifice is worthwhile for to him all life is sacred no matter its origin. Know this Mewtwo, his heart is as pure as any Pokémon's, in fact it is purer than the hearts of many of our kind who are overshadowed by fear or hatred of humans. He may be the last key to your own heart, the question is: will you accept that key?"_ was all the voice said to him before its presence faded completely.

'_Yes,'_ Mewtwo thought to himself _'I will.'_ Before he and Mew flew down to join the humans and other Pokémon. Upon their arrival all the Pokémon and humans turned to look at them. Mew looked around at them all wide eyed and innocent whilst Mewtwo's eyes met with Ash's before he lowered them to the ground, deeply ashamed of his actions that had caused so much pain to the boy. Several of the Pokémon directed a growl at the large bipedal feline before it was surprised to feel a human hand on his shoulder. As he looked up he was even more surprised at the identity of the owner of the hand… a smiling Ash.

"Hey, don't worry so much." Ash said to him "We all make mistakes from time to time."

"_How? How can you forgive me so easily?"_

"Well first, like I said we all make mistakes and I should know as it's usually me making the mistakes." Ash responded with a light-hearted chuckle "What matters is what we take away from our mistakes, do we refuse to accept that we made them or do we learn from them and apply what we learned in the future. Secondly, you said that ever since you were born/created, whatever you want to call it, all you've known was Team Rocket so it's natural that you would only know to do things in the way they would do them. Finally, I'm fine now and the Pokémon look like they'll make a full recovery so everything was alright in the end." He finished with his smile widening even further.

"Pika!" the mouse on his shoulder affirmed with a nod.

"_I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me today; you have allowed me to find it within myself to love others and shown me that there are many different types of people and Pokémon in the world. But, I have one more favour to ask of you."_ He stated with a hint of a grin on his face for the first time in his life until he mentioned the favour at which point his face set in a deadly serious expression. _"I would like you to take me with you."_

Everyone's eyes widened in shock at this, legendary Pokémon were the rarest of the rare, almost never even spotted. Yet here was one asking to join a trainer who was almost completely new to the business. They all turned to Ash to see how he would respond.

Whilst struggling very hard to remain calm Ash replied "Are you sure? Before you respond let me point out a few things as well. To begin with, you will no longer be free to travel as you please. Additionally, you will have to travel in a pokéball because if people saw you after finding out what you were they would constantly try to steal you. As well as those things you will have to train hard and be ready to battle in the upcoming Indigo Conference. Lastly and most importantly, you will have to be my friend." He finished with a grin.

Mewtwo laughed at this, he could feel Ash's excitement and therefore knew he was holding back, before giving his own response. _"Yes, I am sure. In response to your own statements I say this. I would not be free to travel anyway, criminal organisations would hunt me for my power for the rest of my life and I would have to hide from them. Where better to go than to the last place they would look, a new but competent trainer. As for staying in a pok_é_ball I think I could bear that, especially if you were to let me out often when we are not in inhabited areas. I am already strong but I understand the origin of your concern and agree to train as it cannot hurt to get stronger. Though I am unsure of what this Indigo Conference is I will help you to the best of my abilities in it. And your final request, that is in fact one of the reasons I seek to join you. You have shown me that life is almost meaningless without friends and I have witnessed first-hand the bond you share with your Pokémon. It would mean more to me than words can describe if I was able to form a similar bond with you and your Pokémon."_

"Then I accept. But if you come with me then what will happen to the Pokémon here, I doubt they'd be able to last long in the wild as they lack knowledge about things such as which foods are safe to eat and which aren't. I suppose I could… No, that would be stupid."

"_Actually I think that would be a wonderful idea."_

"Think what would be a wonderful idea? What's he talking about?" Asked Misty before Brock followed up.

"Wait you don't mean you're going to…"

"Yes Brock, I'm going to catch them all to." Ash stated seriously while everyone looked at him in shock.

Feeling left out of the conversation Mew decided to but in with a question of its own. "Mew, mew ew ew?"

Everybody looked at the floating pink cat in confusion before Mewtwo decided to translate Mew's request. _"Mew was asking whether, if it too agreed to your conditions, it could join us? And I must say I suggest you accept."_

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" echoed around the stadium before Ash noticed the look of hurt on poor Mew's face. "Wait Mew. I didn't mean I don't want to take you with me."

"Ew?"

"It's just that this is a big shock for me. I've only seen a legendary Pokémon once before in my life, and most people don't even see that many, and now I have two wanting to join me as well as twenty-five other supercharged Pokémon. I'll accept you all into our family it's just going to take a while to sink in."

"_Your family?"_ Mewtwo questioned.

"Yeah," Ash responded with an enormous smile "all my Pokémon are a part of my family."

"_Very well, this may be even more interesting than I thought. How do you want to do this Ash?"_

"That's a good question, Professor Oak might have a heart attack if he wakes up to find you with 27 new Pokémon, one of which is a legendary and another of which is a completely new species that is also legendary." Brock added.

Ash thought for a moment before deciding on a plan. "There's a small forest just outside of Pallet Town, if you were to teleport us all there before hiding yourselves from others with your psychic powers I could go to the Professor and explain the situation before coming back to officially capture you. Though he still might have a minor heart attack when he finds out I'm not joking"

"_That sounds like a good plan to me and I get the feeling there may be no way to completely prevent the chance of him having a heart attack going by what you've said."_ Mewtwo commented with a smirk on his face.

"Ok, that sorts you guys out but what about us, our Pokémon are in no state to take us back to the mainland at the moment but it's way too far for us to swim." Neesha stated pointing at herself, Corey, Fergus and Nurse Joy.

"_In that case I will teleport you back to the Pokémon Center in the port, where Nurse Joy is originally from. That will allow you to have your Pokémon treated immediately as well. I will however remove your memories of today's events apart from the fact that you need to get your Pokémon treated. It is not that I do not trust you, but I fear that if you accidentally said even the slightest thing wrong organisations such as Team Rocket may hunt you down and try to extract the information in a harmful manner."_

"We understand." Said Nurse Joy cheerfully. "So will you please send us back?"

A blue flash of light later they and all their Pokémon had disappeared before Mewtwo turned to Ash. _"One more thing ash before we leave, you said that you saw another legendary Pokémon before you met us?"_

"Mew?"

"That's a good point; you never told us anything about this Ash." Misty said angrily.

"Alright cool it. I never told you because you wouldn't have believed me before now even with my evidence."

"He's right you know. Though I wonder what the evidence is." Brock backed him up knowing he was indeed right and that he would need all the help he could get against Misty.

"You'll see. It was a while after I first met you Misty."

* * *

***Flashback Begin***

Ash and Pikachu woke up looking straight into each other's eyes knowing they could trust each other completely after what had just happened with the flock of Spearow.

"Well, we beat 'em." Said Ash cheerfully, continuing to look at his new partner.

"Chu." Responded said partner before they both looked up at a sound similar to a bird squawking. What they saw that day they would never forget. Directly above them was a brilliant rainbow and flying under it was an equally magnificent, large, rainbow-coloured bird Pokémon. As they watched it fly into the distance they saw something land beside them. It was a single large rainbow-coloured feather. They knew somehow that it was a sign of good things to come.

***Flashback End***

* * *

"After that when we arrived at the Viridian City Pokémon Center I talked to Professor Oak and he told that I must have been imagining things as the only Pokémon that fitted my description was a legendary Pokémon called Ho-Oh that hadn't been seen for more than a hundred years. That's when I showed him this." Ash said, pulling the feather from under his shirt on a chain around his neck. "When he saw this he nearly fainted in shock but managed to compose himself and tell me a bit more about Ho-Oh."

"_You should know that I have heard some things about Ho-Oh from other Pokémon." _Mewtwo said_ "It is said that it only shows itself before those with the purest of hearts, that includes both Pokémon and humans and no Pokémon have seen it for more than a hundred years either as far as I am aware. The other thing is that those who are gifted with the Rainbow Wing, as that feather is named, will supposedly experience eternal happiness. You should be extremely proud of yourself and grateful to Ho-Oh for deeming you worthy of such a gift."_

"I… Am." Ash replied awed and shocked by this revelation. "Well I suppose we better get going and do this." He finished, getting a grip on himself.

"_Indeed we should."_ A flash of blue later they were gone.

* * *

In the skies above the now empty stadium two Pokémon flew. _"So he does still remember me and my gift."_ A certain large, rainbow-coloured bird Pokémon communicated telepathically to its friend.

"_It seems he did, and that both Mewtwo and Mew agreed with my propositions to go with him."_ Said the same deep and powerful voice that Mewtwo had heard earlier that day. _"I wish them all the best of luck."_

"_You really think they'll need luck with him?"_ The bird replied with a huff.

"_Will you join him too in the future? I believe many others will."_

"_Perhaps, but only if he can calm the hearts of the three beasts."_

"_Ahh, an interesting but appropriate test. Well, I take my leave of you now and hope to see you again soon."_

* * *

**I hope you liked it and please let me know your honest opinions.**


	2. Mewtwo Mellows

**Authors Note**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any of the characters and locations in it.**

**Well thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter as they were all kind words that have encouraged me to keep trying hard on the story and publish this chapter now though I will usually try to put out a chapter every Saturday I think, this first week may be an exception though as I may not have my laptop with me, if I won't be able to do it then I will try and post it slightly earlier. I think I will be trying to make most of my chapters more like the length of this one because a couple of thousand words like the first chapter is not enough to qualify as a real chapter in my opinion.**

**Now to answer a question and respond to a few statements made in the reviews.**

**Saiyan-Styles:  
I have indeed read that story and liked I quite a lot but I do intend to make my own quite different but there will be some larger similarities near the start probably. I found it while looking for stories regarding Ash and Mewtwo as a team as I really think that Ash's first legendary should either be him or Ho-Oh but Mewtwo makes more sense. As to the fact that there are similarities between the two, there will always be similarities due to them starting at the same point and following the same path (for example ***slight spoiler here*** I also intend to do an adventure based on the crystal Onix episode but with a different twist of my own ***spoiler end***) but I hope that I can make mine completely distinguishable in time as although I like it I do not want to be copying it as that is Sabor364's story which by the way I recommend if anyone reading this hasn't read it yet.**

**Now to those of you who were commenting about pairings, at the end of the day I will close my current poll on whether there should be a romance or not. If the majority of votes go to 'Yes' then I will put up another poll with characters I am considering. Though I am afraid there will be no harem option Saiyan-Styles, and anyone else who wanted one, as like I said at the beginning of the last chapter this is the first thing I have ever written properly so I want to make it good quality and I think I can do that better with a single romance. Maybe if I find the romance writing easy I will later on in the story but they would probably be in Hoenn/Sinnoh, maybe Johto if I work fast and one of the earlier introduction choices is selected, by then. Though the travelling companions (Misty, May and Dawn. Not sure who will be in Unova yet as I don't like Iris's character that much but she will make an appearance that I intend to make humorous) I am going to try and have fangirling him after a little while.**

**I forgot to mention last chapter as well, here's a key for the different types of speech:  
**"Normal vocal speech."  
_"Telepathic speech."_  
_'Private thoughts.'_  
'Quoting someone/something.'

**I think that's all so on with the story.**

* * *

**Master Quest Chapter 2 – Mewtwo Mellows, Charizard Chills and Riolu Rumbles**

Just inside the boundaries of the Pallet Woods there was a flash of blue light. The source of this light was the sudden arrival of 32 beings, these beings were Ash, Misty and Brock, all of whom had returned their Pokémon to their pokéballs before they left New Island, as well as Togepi, Pikachu, Mew, Mewtwo and all his cloned Pokémon.

"Alright guys, I want you all to stay here while I go and sort things out with Professor Oak and Mewtwo, I want you to use your psychic powers to make sure nobody gets close to you while I'm away, okay?" came Ash's voice from the edge of a clearing.

"_Very well."_ Mewtwo said with a hint of nervousness that nobody but Ash picked up on. Ash decided that it was probably best to leave discussing that till later when Mewtwo got used to his new surroundings.

With that exchange of words over Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock dashed off towards Professor Oak's laboratory. Deciding that it was best to avoid drawing attention to themselves, the group took the slightly longer route, skirting the edge of the town. After about 20 minutes they arrived at the Laboratory and knocked on the front door just before the Dodrio began their morning calls. The door opened to reveal a pleasantly surprised Professor Oak. "Well to what do I owe this pleasure Ash? It's rare for you to be up and about before the Dodrio start calling and I didn't even know you were back yet." He asked while adjusting his lab coat.

"It's complicated to say the least and I think we should discuss it somewhere slightly more private, I don't want certain people to know about this."

"Oh, is that so. Well, follow me then, we can go to my office where I can guarantee you some privacy." And so the group of three humans and one Pokémon followed the Pokémon Professor to his office where Ash proceeded to explain everything, though he decided it was best to leave out the fact that he had died, instead simply implying that he had fallen unconscious while not going into specifics.

"So what you're telling me is that in the Pallet Woods there are twenty-five cloned Pokémon, one Mew and one previously unknown legendary Pokémon named Mewtwo all of whom want to join you?" Professor Oak asked surprisingly calmly.

"To put it simply, yes" replied Ash.

The Professor suddenly slid onto the floor, unconscious as the others watched unable to do anything. When he came to he briefly wondered why he was on the floor before remembering the conversation he had just had and nearly fainting again. He managed to regain his composure and said to Ash "Alright then, lead me to them and let's get this over with."

When they got near to the clearing in which the Pokémon were resting Ash said seemingly to thin air "Ok, you can lower your guard now Mewtwo" before proceeding towards the clearing.

"What was that all about?" Professor Oak asked Brock and Misty.

"Before we left Ash asked Mewtwo to use his psychic powers to make people stay away from the clearing where the Pokémon are so I guess he was telling him that is was just us so he could let us through." Brock answered.

"I see, so this Mewtwo has strong psychic powers then does he? Interesting…"

"_And what exactly is so interesting about that Professor?"_ asked a defensive voice in all their heads.

"What was that?" the Professor questioned, looking around but seeing nothing.

"Well, I did tell you Mewtwo could talk telepathically didn't I?" Ash stated simply.

"I suppose you did, I just found it difficult to believe as I've never heard of a truly telepathic Pokémon before."

Ash suddenly looked ahead again and said in a calming tone "And Mewtwo, Professor Oak was simply interested in you psychic powers because a Pokémon with as much psychic power as you is unheard of and he needs to have some idea of what you are capable of in order to classify you in the pokédex."

"_Why should I go through that and even if I agree to that what else will it require?"_ Mewtwo questioned cynically, though there was slightly less hostility in his voice following Ash's defence of the man's thoughts.

"Well why you should do it is simple, I could tell earlier when we were talking about battling that you wanted to show the world how strong you are. The easiest way to do that is to battle in the upcoming Indigo Conference which will be watched worldwide in the final rounds. But to do that you need to be registered in the pokédex, don't ask me why because I don't know but there is a reason. As for what else it will require…" Ash looked to the Oak for this question and he provided.

"All that is required to register you in the pokédex is your species name, which is obviously Mewtwo and your type, again it is obvious that you are psychic, you may have a secondary type as well but that can be deduced through what you are capable of. The only other things that are necessary are height and weight. We like to put in your natural habitat and behaviour as well but they are done by observation and aren't required anyway so it's possible to leave them out to maintain your privacy." As Oak finished talking to the unseen Pokémon they arrived in the clearing and what he saw amazed him, all sorts of different Pokémon sitting together without the slightest hint of conflict even though one of them was a Gyarados and they are known for being extremely vicious most of the time. Then he saw Mew and Mewtwo, each of them sitting on a branch in one of the trees at the edge of the clearing.

"_As you are a professor I presume you have a field in which you specialise?"_ Mewtwo asked.

"Why yes, in fact because of my field I believe that I may be the most suitable of the regional professors for you to stay with and it's also one of the reasons I'm so grateful to Ash. You see my field of research is Pokémon interaction, that is to say how Pokémon interact with members of their own species, different species and even how they interact with humans. For example, recently I have come to believe that a Pokémon's performance in battle is greatly dependant on the relationship they have with their trainer. This I have found from Ash's Pokémon because although they are not as well trained or experienced as other Pokémon of the same species they have repeatedly outperformed those others in battle so that they do not let Ash down."

"_I see, perhaps you are right, if anyone other than Ash can help me learn to interact with humans peacefully as I now wish to it would be someone who has done a large amount of research in this area."_ He then turned to Ash _"What now then?"_

"Well I guess now is where I capture you all. Once you're securely caught in the pokéball it will be transferred to the Oak Corral at Professor Oak's laboratory. We'll be maybe twenty to thirty minutes behind you as we'll have to walk but when we get there I'll let you all out and introduce you to everyone else and help you settle in." Ash replied. He then started throwing pokéballs until only two Pokémon stood before him, Mew and Mewtwo. "I'll see you guys in a little while then." He said simply before throwing two more pokéballs at them and beginning the journey back to the laboratory with the others.

When he arrived at the laboratory he took his pokéballs and went out to the corral. As he got there he gave a whistle that echoed across the grounds and when his Pokémon heard it they all charged over and gathered before him, eagerly awaiting whatever news he was bringing. He then released the Pokémon that had been travelling with him recently and they joined the group knowing what was coming next. "Well guys, we have a lot of new family members today, twenty-seven in fact, and I want you all to treat them nicely. Now, time for introductions" He first released Mew and Mewtwo who introduced themselves. He released these two first as he thought the other clone Pokémon might be reassured by Mewtwo's presence as he was their former master and because he correctly deduced that it would take a minute or two for him to get Mew to stop playing and sit down. Though when he did sit down he sat atop Ash's head which elicited a chuckle from the boy and a couple of the Pokémon present, even Mewtwo. However some of the Pokémon stood in awe of the fact that they were now welcoming two legendary Pokémon to the family, they all eventually managed to come to terms with it and introduce themselves. After that all of the new clone Pokémon were released and introduced as well; though some made friends more easily than others such as the clone Bulbasaur and Venusaur who easily befriended Ash's original Bulbasaur whilst most of the Pokémon steered clear of Gyarados due to their reputation. Ash saw this as well as the sad look on its face and decided to rectify it. He took off most of his clothes before diving into the small lake that it was resting in and swimming over to it for a hug which brightened its mood a bit. All the others looked on as Professor Oak chuckled saying "That's Ash."

"_What is he doing?"_ asked Mewtwo sceptically.

It was Misty who explained Ash's actions this time "Well Ash could see that Gyarados was sad because none of the others wanted to go near it so my guess is that he decided to cheer it up by playing with it and getting the others to join them. By the way is that Gyarados a boy or a girl because I don't like using the term 'it' to describe a Pokémon? I'm sure Ash doesn't either for that matter."

"_That Gyarados is a female but I feel I must ask, why does he go so far just because one Pokémon is slightly saddened?"_

Now it was Brock "Well to Ash all his Pokémon are his friends and his family and you don't sit around doing nothing while your friends or family get down in the dumps so he tries to cheer them up." With that they looked back to the lake just in time to see Ash playfully splash some water on Gyarados. She responded by using her tail to flick some water over him making the both of them laugh before Ash called out to the others to join them which they did, gradually closing the distance between them and Gyarados until eventually all the water Pokémon and some of the others such as the grass types were playing together and making friends. Ash slipped out of the water while the others were too distracted playing with each other to pay attention to him.

"_It actually worked."_ Mewtwo said somewhat shocked.

"Of course it did." said Ash pouting "Did you really doubt me?"

Mewtwo took one look at his face before he burst out laughing and it wasn't long before Ash joined him. They both stopped quite abruptly though when a wave of water swept over the two and they looked to the lake to see all of the Pokémon there laughing just like they had been. "So you want to play like that, huh?" they said in unison before charging over to join the fun. Ash spent the rest of the morning playing with his Pokémon in the lake while the others looked on. When it was nearly time for lunch brock went to prepare the meal while Professor Oak called his mother, Delia, to invite her to join them. Once she arrived she took to the new Pokémon in an instant and went around giving hugs to everyone and welcoming them to the family. His new Wigglytuff took a shine to her instantly and began following her around like a lost little Growlithe, noticing this Delia asked if she wanted to help and when she nodded her agreement she started getting small tasks to do to help the others. After they had eaten Ash decided to spend some time with the Pokémon that hadn't joined in with the water games earlier because he felt like he had been ignoring them. This pleased them greatly and soon he had his own little, or maybe not so little, follower in his Ninetales. He found that she enjoyed having the areas beneath her jaw and behind her ears scratched, a pleasured growl coming from her throat every time he did so.

As the end of the day approached Ash decided that Mew and Mewtwo should stay near him for the moment and asked them to come back to his house for the night to which they agreed. As his Ninetales and Wigglytuff didn't seem to want to leave his and his mother's sides respectively he told them to come as well, this resulted in his Ninetales bounding around him and yipping cheerfully all the way back to the house. When they arrived his mother started cooking dinner and though Brock offered his help she wouldn't have it as he was a guest so in her books he should be putting his feet up and resting. Dinner was magnificent and Brock enjoyed it so much that he went so far as to say that it put his cooking to shame though Delia told him that it was just the years of experience paying off. The Pokémon all enjoyed themselves thoroughly, none other than Pikachu ever having tasted such fine food before. Though for that matter Pikachu didn't eat an awful lot after he discovered his favourite treat once more, Tomato Ketchup. Delia was amazed at how much of the red sauce Pikachu was eating and couldn't help but laugh at the look of ecstasy on the mouse's face. This made the others look up before noticing and joining her, Pikachu was far too absorbed in his ketchup to notice however which just made them laugh harder. When they finished; she promised Ash's partner to buy him lot's more, much to the delight of the small mouse who then went tearing round the house to tell Ash the good news.

* * *

The next morning Ash awoke on the sofa, Misty had been given his bed while Brock got the spare room, and found that his Pokémon were all sleeping beside him, save Mewtwo and Wigglytuff. Ash assumed that Wigglytuff was with his mother while Mewtwo was probably out in the garden as he didn't seem comfortable in enclosed spaces. Ash gently moved Mew off his stomach while Pikachu got up from his position by Ash's head and stretched, Ash gave him a scratch on the head which earned him a short "Chaaaa" from his yellow friend. "Morning Pikachu" Ash whispered to him while stepping over Ninetales, who was curled up by the foot of the sofa, trying to avoid waking the others. Ash walked into the kitchen with Pikachu in his usual position on his shoulder and looked out the window; sure enough Mewtwo was sat in the middle of the back garden meditating. Ash then spoke to Pikachu "Hey buddy, what do you say we surprise everyone by showing them the cooking skills we've picked up over the last year?" Pikachu nodded with a grin on his face before he started helping Ash prepare everyone's breakfast. He knew that everyone thought that Ash couldn't cook so he wanted to see what their reactions would be when they tasted the food, because Ash's cooking was exquisite.

When the cooking was well underway Ash began to hear some movement upstairs and soon his mother walked in to the kitchen and froze for a moment. "Ash dear, when did you learn to cook?"

"Well I picked up a fair few things by watching Brock along the way and a couple of the Nurse Joy's we met were kind enough to give me a few cooking lessons as well. But Brock and Misty don't know about this yet so would you mind acting as if you cooked until they give their opinion then we can spring the fact that it was me who cooked it on them. I can't imagine how shocked they'll be as they think I can't cook at all."

"Well, that might be a bit fun actually so I'll play along for now" she replied with a giggle.

"Thanks mom."

Soon enough the others were all up soon and said good morning before they began tucking the breakfast that Mrs Ketchum had served as Ash had finished a little while ago and she had been keeping it warm to follow through with Ash's plan. When they had all finished, Brock and Misty began to voice their opinions having assumed Delia was the one responsible.

Misty was the first to speak up. "That was divine Delia, even better than the meal last night."

"Oh, well…"

"Misty's right Delia, but you really shouldn't have gone to such lengths for us." Brock interrupted.

Ash let out a small snicker but regained control of himself before his mother corrected them. "Well actually, I wasn't the one who cooked this."

"What?" The two asked in unison, looking around the house for another person. "Then who did?"

"Well, it was Ash that cooked breakfast this morning."

"Yeah, and Diglett have feet." Misty responded "Come on Delia, we know Ash couldn't cook to save his life."

At this he could no longer contain himself and he burst out laughing as Pikachu began rolling around on the table in a similar state. The others turned to look at the two before Brock and Misty gave Ash a look as if to say "And what pray tell is so funny?"

Ash got himself under control before he spoke "Well the thing is guys, my mom's not joking. I really did cook breakfast this morning and asked her to act as if she cooked it so I could get your honest opinions." All the Pokémon began laughing with him as well while Brock and Misty had stunned looks on their faces and their eyes travelled between Ash and their plates. "Oh, and Misty, Diglett actually do have feet so you might want to reconsider that phrase."

"Hold on a minute." Brock said. "Since when could you cook at all let alone this well?" he finished, gesturing at their plates to emphasise his point. Misty nodded her head in agreement, also wanting an answer.

"Well, after my miserable attempt at cooking shortly after we first met up you didn't expect me to just not try and improve did you?" Ash asked before continuing. "After I found out I was that terrible at cooking anything other than instant noodles I knew I had to learn so I started watching what you did when nobody was looking. I also asked a few of the Nurse Joy's we met along the way to give me cooking lessons as well, 'cause I knew you wouldn't let me near your utensils, and they really helped." At this Brock started crying in the corner as Ash had got to spend time alone with more than one Nurse Joy whilst he had never got a minute alone with any woman since his Gym Leader days. Ash continued "Then a few weeks ago I decided to try putting it all in to practice so I took a few of your ingredients and utensils and cooked something up for me and my Pokémon and we really enjoyed it so I kept practicing every once in a while and got even better. Now I'm this good."

It was Misty who spoke next. "But Ash, if you're cooking was this good why didn't you cook for us sometimes? No offence Brock but Ash's cooking makes yours look plain and simple." At this Brock suddenly stopped crying and gave ash a quick, joking glare before smiling again and telling Misty that he in fact agreed with her so there was no problem.

"Well, two reasons really. For a start I only know how to cook a few things, I haven't had a chance to see if I can cook any proper meals yet. On top of that, would you have actually tried my cooking, be honest, and that's if I had even been able to get a hold of the utensils from Brock."

"I guess you have a point there." Misty responded before adding. "But my opinion of you has just grown quite a bit Ash Ketchum, the fact that you would go so far just to learn to cook shows that you're more mature than I thought."

"Well; as much as I wish it weren't so, I do have to consider that you guys and my mom won't be around to look after me forever."

At this his mother added her opinion. "Oh, my baby boy is growing up so fast."

"Mom, cut it out. You're embarrassing me in front of my friends" The 'baby boy' responded.

Brock was sitting there his face a bit down upon realising that they would eventually have to split up just as Ash had pointed out. Misty was in the same state though there was a slight hint of red in her cheeks as she thought about what he had said. _'What if we could stay together forever though?'_

"Well guys, we better head over to the Professor's lab now 'cause I know he wanted to make an early start gathering data from Mew and Mewtwo for their pokédex entries. Plus I want to try and get to know my new Pokémon and those I haven't worked with much a bit better." Ash added as he turned to the two. This snapped them back to reality and they agreed before heading out for the day.

When they arrived at the lab they were welcomed into it by Oak who was almost bouncing off the walls as Ash released Mew and Mewtwo and asked them to let the researcher examine them for a while before going to see his Pokémon. After playing for a bit he had got to know most of Pokémon quite well but there was one who steered clear of the fun all together, Charizard. Ash decided that he had had enough and it was time to resolve their differences. He approached Brock and Misty and told them what he was going to attempt, they wished him luck before he went back in to the lab and found Professor Oak with Mew and Mewtwo beginning his measurements. "Hi Professor." Ash said as the researcher looked up at him "I'm going to take Charizard and go out to the woods and see if we can resolve our differences so we can be friends again."

"Well Ash I wish you the best of luck as I think you'll need it to deal with your Charizard's attitude."

"Thanks. You two," he added, now looking at Mew and Mewtwo "I want you to help the Professor out as much as you can. I'll see you soon, whether I get through to Charizard or not." He then walked out the door before Oak looked at Mewtwo who nodded his assent for the measurements to continue.

After a while the necessary measurements had all been taken and Mewtwo had even been kind enough to supply the researcher with a few facts about their habits and behaviour though he made sure to keep habitats strictly confidential as he didn't want hundreds or thousands of trainers from across the world to go looking for the few remaining wild Mew. Once he had all of the information, Oak walked over to his desk and placed his notes upon it before opening a drawer and pulling out two syringes in vacuum packages. The moment he turned back around to the Pokémon however, he was pinned up against the wall by an enormous amount of psychic power. Mewtwo had seen the syringes and as was quite obvious, he was not happy. _"What exactly are those for? I thought you said that was all you needed for the pokédex."_ Mewtwo said angrily while eyeing the syringes.

"Oh, well this is for you rather than for the pokédex. You see if I take a small sample of you blood, so little that your body will have replaced it within a day I might add, I can analyse it and see if you have any bacteria or viruses floating around in your system and if you do I can provide medicine to help you recover more quickly. As well as that I can have the computer analyse your DNA and that will allow us to identify any genetic conditions you might have or any diseases you might be particularly susceptible in the future." Oak replied anxiously, hoping Mewtwo would understand.

"_And why should I believe you, human? The only scientists I have encountered before saw me only as a test subject to do with as they willed, why should I believe you would be any different?"_

"Well for a start Ash does." The Professor almost yelled as he had felt the grip of the psychic energy tighten somewhat with Mewtwo's last outburst. "Listen, you trust Ash don't you and he left you here in my care trusting that I wouldn't do anything that would hurt you. Why, you can even look into my mind if that's possible for you. I don't care as I have nothing to hide from you."

When Oak finished his short speech Mewtwo considered what he had said for a moment before realising that he was right. He dissipated the psychic force that was pinning the prestigious researcher against the wall and apologised. _"You are right, I am sorry I acted so rashly. You may take a sample of my blood and anything else you may need."_

"That's quite alright Mewtwo. From what Ash told me about you the only scientists you've met before me were members of Team Rocket so it's no wonder you have a dislike for my kind. But I assure you, with Ash as your trainer you are likely in the safest place possible as he would risk his life for even wild Pokémon time and time again, so if they tried to hurt you now I suspect he would hunt them to the ends of the earth to make them pay." When Oak had finished on the subject of Team Rocket they continued on with the tests.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the Pallet Woods.

"Charizard, I choose you." Ash called out, he had left the lab with only Charizard, not even Pikachu had come with him, though Ash suspected he'd get a thundershock or two for that later. As the large red lizard materialised before him Ash spoke up. "Well then, I want to sort out our problems once and for all." At this Charizard huffed, exhaling a small cloud of smoke into Ash's face before turning away from him and laying down. "Charizard, listen. I just want to go back to being friends again, whatever it takes. Don't you think I deserve that after everything I've done for you and the others in the past?" Charizard made no response to its trainer's words though that did not mean he didn't hear them. He still listened to every word his trainer said, all that had changed was that he didn't act on them anymore. "Charizard plea…"

Ash was interrupted by a sudden distressed cry from slightly deeper in the woods. Both Ash and Charizard looked in the direction it had come from with a worried expression. "Was that a Pokémon? Whatever it was it sounded like it was in pain…" Ash trailed off before they heard another pained cry from the same direction. The Pokémon and trainer looked at each other and nodded before heading in the direction of the cry. They soon came to the edge of a clearing and what they saw shocked them. In the centre of the clearing stood a small bipedal, dog-like Pokémon, it was pure white, almost the same colour as snow. The Pokémon was obviously on its last legs as it was panting hard and kneeling down. Before it was a pair of Primeape, they were both commanded by men in white clothes with a large red 'R' on the front. "Team Rocket again…" Ash mumbled with anger clear in his voice.

"Primeape, use karate chop." The two members of Team Rocket called out suddenly.

'_Oh no, that Pokémon can't take on hit like that let alone two'_ Ash thought before he came to a decision and charged into the clearing and dived in front of the small canine Pokémon taking both hits before falling to the floor. Everyone present was surprised at this turn of events but the Team Rocket grunts recovered quickly and laughed at the trainer now lying unconscious on the floor.

"What an idiot." One said to the other.

"I know, who would be stupid enough to get in the way of a Pokémon battle, let alone when those Pokémon belong to Team Rocket." His partner acknowledged "Let's just finish him off, grab the Riolu and get out of here."

This was too much for Charizard as he suddenly remembered everything he had been through with his trainer. Ash had saved its life the very first time they met, protecting it from the rain and taking it to the Pokémon Center for treatment. After that Ash had happily welcomed the small Charmander to his team and family and they had trained and played together almost constantly, just like the other Pokémon. They had even endured a harsh blizzard together before it had evolved, after that it had become arrogant and disregarded everything Ash did for it. Finally, on New Island Ash had given his very life to protect all the Pokémon, Charizard included, and Charizard had cried with the others, though it cried more than most others just like the rest of his Pokémon. It realised, now that it might lose him again, that life wasn't worth living without Ash. Ash was his trainer, his guardian but most importantly of all, he was his greatest friend. Charizard knew what he had to do now and he would not let his trainer down again. As he watched the small Pokémon approach the unconscious Ash it stepped out into the clearing and uttered a mighty bellow, a challenge to any Pokémon that might hurt its master that caused every wild Pokémon, but for the Riolu, within a mile to flee in terror. The two Primeape cowered before their trainers as Charizard's tail flame grew in both size and intensity, vast amounts of heat pouring off of its body.

"K-k-k-karate chop?" One of the trainers ordered but his Pokémon simply cowered in front of him before Charizard unleashed a devastating flamethrower that burnt everything for 50 metres in front of it to a crisp. The Team Rocket members were finished.

Charizard then turned to Ash and the Riolu and scooped Ash up in its arms. It looked at the Riolu and said in its native tongue "You will follow me by land. If you do not, I will be angry." then took to the air and flew back to the lab, hoping Ash would be alright. Riolu followed the orders it had been given as it didn't want to anger that Charizard after what it had just seen.

Soon Charizard arrived back at the ranch with Riolu in tow. He roared loudly which got everyone's attention and they soon saw the unconscious trainer in his arms. He carried Ash to the lab building and arrived just as Oak, Misty, Brock, Mew and Mewtwo were leaving. They took one look at him and the bundle in his arms before Misty whispered "Not again… Please not again." and collapsed to the floor crying. The others acted quickly; Brock and Oak cleared a path while Mewtwo used his psychic powers to move Ash to a desk that had been cleared moments ago by Brock. Mew was just watching, shock and fear etched in her face. Mewtwo turned to Charizard next.

"_What happened to him?"_ he asked, struggling to keep himself calm. After a series of grunts and roars from Charizard, Mewtwo told the others what had transpired. _"It seems that Ash was injured trying to save an injured Pokémon from the grasp of Team Rocket, he took a karate chop to the back from two Primeape to end up in this state."_

"Thanks Mewtwo, that should help us figure out how to treat him. What happened to the Pokémon though, Ash will want to know when he wakes up?" Brock replied.

"_Charizard said that he brought it with him but he won't leave Ash's side until he recovers so we can't see it till then unless it comes to us. But from what Charizard said it isn't injured enough to need immediate medical attention."_

"Ok, thanks again Mewtwo. I'm sure Ash will be up in no time, just you wait and see."

After a wait of about half an hour Ash began to stir and the Professor called Brock, Misty and Mewtwo back to the room. Pikachu, Mew and Charizard hadn't left his side throughout the whole process though Charizard had been made to stick his head in through the window as he was too big to fit inside. Soon everyone was gathered and Ash's eyes began to flicker open. "Ugh, what happened? And where am I?"

"Well Ash, apparently you got in the way of two Pokémon attacks which knocked you out then Charizard brought you here which is back at the lab." Oak told him.

At this Ash looked at Charizard and began to speak. "Thanks Chari…. Wait, Charizard brought me back?" At this everyone looked at Ash questioningly and Charizard nodded.

"Why wouldn't he Ash?" Misty asked.

"Well the last I remember, Charizard was still ignoring me." Ash answered.

At this everyone realised that they were in the same position and looked at Charizard in the same way they had looked at Ash. He gave a series of grunts and roars similar to those from his description of what had happened to Ash earlier. When he had finished Mewtwo translated for them all. _"It seems that when Charizard saw you falling to the ground in that state he remembered all your times together and everything you had done together, with that he realised that you weren't just his trainer but his guardian and his friend as well. After that he wiped out the Team Rocket members and brought you back here telling the Pokémon you saved to follow him."_

"That's a point Ash, what type of Pokémon was it?" Brock asked.

"I… I don't know, it was kind of like a small dog that stood on two legs and it was pure white."

"Hmm… I've never heard of a Pokémon like that before." The Professor told them all.

"_Team Rocket called it a Riolu according to Charizard."_ Mewtwo informed him.

"A Riolu? But Riolu are native to the Sinnoh region and are never found in Kanto, add to that that its apparently white when Riolu and its evolved form, Lucario, are meant to be blue and black then it's difficult to believe. Though now I think about it, I may have read about a couple of legends that mentioned a white Lucario so perhaps it is possible."

"Well that would explain why Team Rocket was after it." Ash interjected "They love trying to get their hands on rare Pokémon so if they can usually only be found in a distant region and it's a colour only ever mentioned in legends then it's the perfect target for them. Why don't we go find out?"

Everybody agreed to this so they set out and found the Riolu at the outskirts of the ranch. At the sight of Charizard it shivered slightly but then it saw Ash and ran towards him. When it got within a couple of feet it dived at him and embraced him in a tight hug which confused Ash slightly before he decided to return the hug. "Hello to you too little guy." Ash said before putting him down. "Well Professor what do you think?"

"Well it's certainly a Riolu and it's certainly white so it seems everything was true, but I suppose that's no surprise really when I'm dealing with you." As Oak said this Riolu noticed the other humans for the first time and moved closer to Ash as if scared.

"Don't worry little guy. Everybody here is my friend and they won't do anything to you unless you really make them angry, though you're probably so cute you could get away with anything anyway." Ash told him with a laugh.

They played together for a while before it started getting late again and Ash decided it was time to go home. When Ash told Riolu this and tried to leave, Riolu just wouldn't leave him be. Then Ash had an idea "I know, Riolu, would you like to join my team with the others?" Brock and Misty were slightly shocked by this but realised that it was an inevitable result from the moment Ash first saved it. The Riolu nodded its assent so Ash pulled out a pokéball, when Riolu saw the pokéball though it backed away slightly. "Do you not like pokéballs, is that the problem?" The Riolu nodded and Ash thought for a second before realising the answer to their problem was right in front of them. "Well how about I capture you then let you out again and you can stay out like Pikachu?" he asked. The Riolu thought for a moment before agreeing to the proposal and allowing itself to be caught. At this point Ash made his trademarked pose before adding the accompanying comment. "I just caught a Riolu!"

Pikachu had jumped up on his shoulder to join his pose with a few words of his own. "Pi Pikachu!" Everybody laughed at their antics before Ash released Riolu and headed back home with the same group as last night plus his new Pokémon. When they got home dinner was already prepared and everyone sat down to eat and talk about their day.

* * *

It had been couple of weeks since Ash had caught his Riolu and those weeks had been spent training both himself and his Pokémon. In the mornings and afternoons they would train themselves physically in one of the ranch's empty fields, Ash was able to train his Pokémon more effectively now as Mewtwo had quite a lot of good advice for training them all. The evenings however would be spent at home on his computer where he would research training methods, new moves, ways to counter moves and spent a lot of time looking at one of the newest theories, abilities. The theory proposed that all Pokémon had some sort of natural ability; a good example was Pikachu who could have the ability static, as a result if a Pokémon came into contact with Pikachu than there was a chance it would be paralysed by the electricity it produced. He realised that if applied correctly in battle these abilities could make all the difference between winning and losing. Ash was growing both physically and mentally. His personality had changed a lot with a good dose more seriousness now, though he still loved to play with all of his Pokémon. The physical training was resulting in Ash's body becoming more toned and slightly taller than before, equal in height to Misty now. As usual Ash was oblivious to the changes he was going through but everybody else was not, it was obvious that Ash was now a true Pokémon trainer. He knew his Pokémon inside and out, he was ready to face physical challenges along the way in his journey and most importantly of all he knew how to look after both himself and his Pokémon; especially after his mother and Brock had started teaching him how to cook food for both humans and Pokémon.

Professor Oak had agreed to leave it a while before releasing the new information about Mew and Mewtwo in order to avoid people finding out that Ash had both when the media came snooping around to know how he made the discoveries. Everyone agreed that for the last month before the Indigo League Ash would leave for New Island with only his Pokémon, there they would continue training in private while the world learned more about Mew and the existence of Mewtwo.

In the beginning Ash had been having trouble training his Riolu as he knew nothing about it and Oak only knew what it looked like and its species name so he had had to request the information from his colleague Professor Rowan in the Sinnoh region. Rowan was greatly interested in the fact that an actual white Riolu had been found and Ash promised that if he ever came to Sinnoh he would let Rowan take a quick look at him as thanks for the information. After that Professor Oak placed an order for a national pokédex as opposed to Ash's current regional pokédex. It contained information on the Pokémon from every region not just Kanto, he got the feeling it would be particularly practical later on in his journey when he started visiting other regions. After all that had taken place Ash was able to learn all the information there was available about Riolu and it quickly mad a big difference to the rate Riolu was improving at.

It was late morning and Ash had just gathered together a team for the short training expedition he was planning for the day. His team consisted off Pikachu, Riolu, Mewtwo, Mew and finally his original Charizard and Squirtle. He had already let everyone know that he was going and told the rest of the Pokémon to have a day off training as they had all earned a break. Misty had tried to insist on going with him but he wouldn't have it and Brock had managed to help him convince Misty to leave him alone. He had noticed that she had been letting him have less and less time to himself recently but he had no idea why. He decided to ignore it and set off in a random direction, making sure to note the path he took so he didn't get lost like he used to. Soon he stumbled across a small ravine that looked perfect and split his Pokémon into two groups for training. He had Charizard attack Pikachu who attacked Squirtle who in turn attacked Charizard, going full circle. He told them not to use too much power at once as they were to focus on building up their endurance today. The other group was Mew, Mewtwo and Riolu. He had Riolu practice its new shadow claw attack on Mew and Mewtwo to build up his power while the other two increased their endurance like the others. Soon the Pokémon were getting tired and just as Ash was about to call for a stop Charizard's flamethrower went astray and hit the edge of the ravine causing a minor explosion which opened up a small cave. The group decided to take a look after having the lunch that Ash had cooked up for them.

Just as they were finishing the meal however, Ash heard voices approaching and Mew and Mewtwo looked at him to let him know that that they had as well. To make sure nobody found out about the two he recalled Mewtwo and turned to Mew. "I want you to use transform to turn into a Sandslash as I might want you to use dig in a while and we need to make sure your form doesn't arouse suspicion." Mew nodded before there was a flash of pink light and a Sandslash stood in her place.

"Slash?" Said Mew in her new voice.

"That's perfect 'Sandslash'. Well everyone, I think it's time we took a look in that cave."

The Pokémon cheered at the prospect of a new adventure, it had been a while for those who had been on one of Ash's adventures before but both Mew and Riolu had never been on one before and looked even more excited than the others. Ash laughed at the look of glee on Mew's face, a reminder of how playful and inquisitive she was. They wandered over to the cave and before they even entered Pikachu spotted something on a small altar just inside. "Pi Pikachu Pikapi?" he called out, pointing at the object. The others looked at it and Ash picked it up to look more closely. It was gold with brown spots dotted all over it and at the centre of it there was a small blue crest with a curved depression in it. Suddenly a woman slightly shorter than Brock tried to grab it out of his hands but he closed his fingers around it and looked at her. She had blue her and seemed to be dressed like some sort of adventurer out of a cartoon.

"Excuse me but what do you think you're doing? I found this a minute ago; you can't just try and take it from me." Ash informed her.

"You found it. Oh please, you can't expect me to believe that. What qualifications do you have to find such an item?" She asked rhetorically in a high pitched tone.

Although he knew the question was rhetorical he couldn't resist the chance to take this arrogant woman down a few pegs "Well actually I have all the qualifications you could possibly need." She was shocked by this before he continued. "After all, you don't need any qualifications to simply find something by accident." This made her pout as she had no comeback to his logic.

She suddenly brightened up before trying a new tact. "Ah, but you don't even know what you are holding so how can you possibly use it to obtain valuable information like I would? Ah, Professor, over here. This little boy is withholding my discovery from me, can you perhaps convince him to give it back."

The man she had addressed walked over before asking. "What is the meaning of this? Doctor Eve is a very renowned archaeologist and you are refusing to return her find to her?"

"No, I am not. I found this artefact myself on the altar over there." He said pointing to it.

"Altar?" Eve questioned. "Do you know what this means? This artefact was obviously of great significance to the people who placed it there, I simply must be allowed to figure out what it is."

"I guess you were telling the truth when you said you found it then. Sorry about her, she gets carried away when she thinks there is a discovery at hand and this could be one of the greatest discoveries of the century." The unnamed Professor told Ash.

"_Ash, I'm speaking directly into your mind from my pokéball. I have noticed a strong Psychic presence coming from that artefact so I think it may actually be a primitive version of a pokéball, be careful with it."_ Came Mewtwo's voice.

"Well it's alright but I believe I already know what this is. There's a strong psychic aura coming from it so I think it's an early version of a pokéball that contains a powerful psychic type." Ash informed them "Also I think you should leave as this land is private property belonging to Professor Samuel Oak. I have permission to be here from him as one of his sponsored trainers but I suspect that you on the other hand, do not."

"Ah, well…"

Dr. Eve interrupted him. "Did you say a primitive pokéball? Perhaps this is the unearthly urn or dark device referred to by the tablet then."

"What tablet?" Ash inquired, believing now that these people knew more than they were letting on.

"Ah, well…" Was heard again.

Now he knew they were trying to hide something and that annoyed him "Tell me now." He growled as his Pokémon added their own growls or warnings. Though strangely Mew had disappeared completely, he decided he need not worry as she was powerful enough to look after herself.

Surprisingly it was Eve who answered and what was more surprising was the sudden change to a polite tone. Perhaps it had something to do with the threatening looks the Pokémon were giving her. "Well we recently discovered a stone tablet not far from here that we believe referred to the ancient city of Pokémopolis. On the tablet there was an inscription that went as follows:

Beware the two great powers of destruction, the shadow of the dark device will grapple with the prisoner of the unearthly urn.

The sacred city will be no more as day is swallowed up by night.

Darker still for you when they return to lay waste to the world, but no human knows the secret to soothe the powers and guide them back to the shadow world."

As she finished Mew popped up out of the earth with a "Slash!" as she was thankfully still disguised. In her hands rested a second small artefact, this one was black though and shaped somewhat similarly to a dumbbell. At the sight of it Eve tried to snatch it up again to investigate it but Mew sidestepped her and took it to Ash. Ash thanked her before giving her a scratch under the jaw which she thoroughly enjoyed. Ash then turned to Eve and spoke once more. "Well I reckon this new one is the dark device and the first was the unearthly urn given their appearances. Let's just hope that whatever is inside them decides not to come out." However it seemed that he had spoken too soon for there was a sudden blast of chilly darkness before a 10 foot tall Gengar covered in tattoos materialised out of the second artefact that they were now sure was the dark device. As it fully materialised a spoon made of the same material as the unearthly urn flew out of the cave and into the depression in the urn. There was a blast of light before an equally tall and tattooed Alakazam appeared before the group. The two of them then set to fighting each other with a vengeance, as if they wanted to wipe each other out. "Two great powers of destruction." Ash muttered before shouting to Eve and her team who had arrived shortly after the Professor. "Get out of here, if you stay you might get seriously injured. I'll try to knock them out with my Pokémon so that we can stop this chaos."

At his words the archaeologists all turned and fled abandoning their equipment in the process. Ash then turned back to the scene in front of him. The battle between the two was devastating the area and he decided the best move would be to go on the offensive. "Alright guys listen up. Riolu I want you to use your shadow claw on the both of them as it should be super effective, the rest of you are to use whichever attacks you think are most suitable. Mewtwo, you come on out and help too." The two 'great powers' were now suffering a lot of damage from the onslaught of thunder, flamethrower, psychic, hydro pump and shadow claw attacks. Soon they were down on their knees panting hard as they tried to get their breath back to attack each other once more. Ash took this chance to throw a pair of pokéballs at them. Unfortunately they each managed to launch one last attack before their successful capture. Ash saw that Riolu was about to land right in the middle of the two attacks and shoved him out of the way taking the attacks himself. His Pokémon watched in horror as the smoke cleared but when it did they were relieved to see Ash still conscious and in one piece. As they ran over to him once more, expressing their relief, he started laughing. "Well, I guess it's a good thing I trained with you guys. It'll take a lot more than that to bring me down now." Pikachu sighed at his antics before they all looked up at Riolu who had suddenly started glowing, the bright light of evolution was enveloping him and when it faded, in his place stood a pure white Lucario.

After celebrating Lucario's evolution a little bit the group headed back to their temporary camp by the cave thinking it was all over, boy were they in for a surprise. When they arrived they found a 10 foot Jigglypuff sat at their camp with a bell in its hand. "Not another one." Ash groaned wondering how many more of these giants he would have to face. It looked round and saw them, the moment it spotted them its face lit up in a smile and it began to raise the bell. Ash realised that it was about to use sing and called out to his Pokémon "Mewtwo, Mew, Charizard and Lucario. Use a group earthquake." That they did, Charizard and Lucario jumping high into the air and adding some rolls to increase the force they struck the ground with while Mewtwo and Mew gathered up a large amount of psychic energy ready to use it to exert a massive force on the ground. They all managed to unleash the attack at exactly the same moment, increasing the power even further. The poor Jigglypuff was suddenly shaken all over the place and cried out in pain. As the shaking stopped it started to recover and Ash knew he would have to knock it out completely before this would be over. Before he could call out any attacks though he saw Lucario charging up an attack and stopped; it was Lucario's favourite attack, one that he shouldn't have been able to use as a Riolu but for some reason could, aura sphere. Lucario finished building up the attack which you could easily tell was much more powerful than it had been when he was a Riolu and threw it straight at the giant. It struck dead on and knocked it out immediately. Ash threw one last pokéball for the day before looking around. With all the damage to this part of the ranch and the three giant, tattooed Pokémon he had just caught he was going to have some serious explaining to do.

* * *

**Ok, so if any of you were wondering the first addition to his team isn't anything from the episodes or games. Not a shiny, just pure white, apart from the metal of course, that's as silver as it normally is.**

**The other three will be making appearances from time to time but not too soon as Ash needs to help two of them get over their anger issues. By the way I am being vague on purpose, just in case anyone skipped right to the end for some strange reason.**

**So yeah, a few new friends and some training later and Ash has a different personality now. I'm trying not to make it too different such as the fact that he will still love playing around with his Pokémon and a few other things whilst he will be much more serious in battle and more prepared.**

**Well once again, I hope you liked it and please let me know what you think.**


	3. Psychic Prince and Aura Champion

**Author's Note**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, the characters in it or the locations in it.**

**Relationships Vote News:  
The vote on whether or not there should be a relationship in this story was concluded the other day with a quite certain yes. Therefore I will be attempting to put a romantic relationship in at some point though when depends somewhat on who it is and it will take a while to develop anyway. The poll for who it should be is now up so feel free to add your votes. The current votes are:  
Cynthia - 2  
Elesa - 1  
Zoey - 0  
Angie - 0  
Leaf - 0  
Flannery - 0  
Candice - 0  
So keep the votes coming as I will keep the poll open for a while but if I get insufficient votes overall then I may cancel my decision to do a romance. If the vote comes to a standstill as a draw then I will either ask a friend of mine for the casting vote or make it myself.**

**I will usually be putting out chapters each Saturday however I am busy tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday (It's Thursday for me at the moment) so I wouldn't be able to get it out for a while otherwise. So that means that the next chapter won't be until Saturday the 10th, though it will probably be very late that day so you might not get a chance to read it until the next day.**

**If anyone is interested in a current progress report I have just finished chapter 5 today and hope to quickly go over it, editing and adding a small piece at some point tonight.**

**CDOwen pointed out to me that I accidentally referred to Mew as a male at points in the last chapter but Mew is female so I have been over all of my other chapters yet to come out and looked for accidental mistakes with gender. I can't be absolutely sure I won't accidentally refer to a Pokémon as two different genders by accident occasionally but I will endeavour to avoid it.**

**Viralkazedragon has actually brought up the topic of this chapter to some extent but you can all find out more by reading this chapter so I commend you on effectively guessing some of the content of this chapter, even if I suspect it was an accident.**

**Anybody else wondering about Pikachu's power I will simply say don't worry and you will find the full extent of his power in time.**

**As for Pokelantis I had completely forgotten about it to be honest but I'm going to be watching the old episodes in a certain area as my story goes through it, e.g. I will be going through the orange island episodes shortly so I can decide which stories I want to put in and when to interject with my own as well. I thought the Pokelantis stuff was quite interesting to be honest so I will probably put it in. Don't know yet though.**

**I think that's all so I'll just put the different speech types and then get on with the story.  
**"Normal Speech"  
_"Telepathic Speech"  
'Private Thoughts'  
_'Quoting Someone/Something'

* * *

**Master Quest Chapter 3 – Psychic Prince and Aura Champion**

It was morning, a couple of weeks before Ash was intending to travel to New Island to train in isolation to keep Mewtwo and Mew a secret for a little longer. Ash was stirring on the sofa once again, it had become a bit of a habit for him to wake up before almost everyone else and cook breakfast for them. However, there was always at least one who was up before Ash and that was Mewtwo.

By the time Ash was up Mewtwo was always awake in the garden and doing… something. Ash thought it looked like he was meditating but he could never be quite sure so for once he decided to find out. He walked out to the garden and approached Mewtwo who made no sign that he knew Ash was there but Ash was sure he knew, after all he always knew who was around. "Hey Mewtwo. Sorry if I'm interrupting you but I've been wondering for a while now what you're actually doing. It looks to me like your meditating but as I've never meditated before I wasn't really sure, so would you mind telling me?"

"_Well Ash, you are right I am indeed meditating. It allows me to focus my mind which in turn focuses and refines my psychic powers. It allows me to use them both more easily and more effectively so it is quite a useful technique. Perhaps you should try it sometime as I have detected a surprisingly high amount of uncontrolled, latent psychic power in you."_ Mewtwo answered.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. Wait a minute, did you say I have psychic powers?"

"_Yes, I did. You see there are effectively two 'types' of psychic powers. Most psychic Pokémon have both but one is greatly underdeveloped whereas the few humans that possess psychic powers can usually only use one. I am one of the few beings in existence who has achieved a high level in both. Anyway, back to the main point, the two types of psychic power could, I suppose, be classed as 'telekinesis' and 'telepathy'."_

"_As the name suggests; 'telekinesis' allows the user to apply their psychic power to induce a change in the material domain, that is to say we effectively imagine a change and it happens. The downside to this is that it requires a lot of psychic power; I have looked through some of your memories and noticed an occasion where you met a woman called Sabrina who had several apprentices. Sabrina could easily manipulate an entire human body but her apprentices had great difficulty affecting something as small as a spoon, this is because they lacked her vast reserves of psychic power."_

"_The 'telepathy' is slightly less clearly defined as although it takes very little psychic power in comparison to 'telekinesis' there are varying levels depending on how well trained you are in the art. The most basic level is the ability to read the emotions of others when their emotions are stable, though I should add that this doesn't mean you will be able to recognise the emotions. As you become more advanced you will be able to read emotions even when they are unstable and changing quickly such as a Pokémon's during a battle; after that you will come to be able to communicate mentally with others, the same stages of development apply to this as to the reading of emotions. I should also add that it becomes easier when applying it to those who have strong psychic abilities or those you have a close bond with. An example would be that it would probably take little training for you to communicate with Pikachu mentally but it would take a lot to communicate with your newer Jigglypuff. That about sums it up, I went into more detail about 'telepathy' as I believe that is the ability you have and you would probably be more interested in it anyway."_

"Wow, I never realised that psychic powers were so complex. I guess I should have expected it though given that almost every psychic I've heard of is really smart. Maybe I should look into getting them trained a bit before we head out for New Island, I suppose I could ask Sabrina if she has heard of anyone who can use telepathy. Well I'll think about it later but for now I better get started on the breakfast." He smiled at the idea of being able to understand all of his Pokémon perfectly as he set to work in the kitchen.

* * *

It was a few days after Ash's discussion with Mewtwo when Ash got a call from Sabrina, he had called her the day before to ask if she knew of anybody capable of telepathy and she had told him there might be someone and she'd look into it. "Hi Ash. I had a look for that person I mentioned yesterday just like I told you I would and I managed to find a bit of information. I had a challenger a while ago who I suspected could command her Pokémon through telepathy and once I asked around the other gyms a couple of people had noticed a few attacks without verbal commands while one of the other leaders said she beat them without uttering a single word once her Pokémon were on the field."

"Apparently she just suddenly stopped challenging gyms and seemed to disappear. After a bit more digging around someone told me that a man called Scott was in the area at the time she disappeared. Now this guy is trying to create a series of facilities in the region similar to gyms but supposedly more challenging and with each facility having some kind of unusual specialisation so I think that if he saw her win a battle without giving commands to her Pokémon verbally he would just love to have her try out for a position in what I think is being called the Battle Frontier."

"So I gave this guy a call and he told me that he had tried to recruit her and she'd accepted his offer but she was travelling to a location to take part in a tournament to decide the leader of one of the facilities. Unfortunately that tournament is being held in Johto for some reason so she is currently travelling down Route 27 and will soon be completely out of the region so you better move quick if you want to find her."

"Thanks so much Sabrina. I doubt I would ever stand a chance of getting myself trained if you hadn't helped me like this." Suddenly, much to her surprise a grin spread across his face and he burst out laughing. Sabrina was left confused for a moment before she decided to find out what he was laughing at.

"What's so funny Ash?"

"Well, it's just that Haunter is right behind you and you know what he's like." She whipped her head around to look behind her and sure enough Haunter was floating in the air pulling funny faces at the videophone. She tried to keep a straight face so she could reprimand him but failed as she found his antics just as funny as Ash did and burst out laughing moments later.

When Haunter had finished messing around and the two had calmed down enough to continue talking Sabrina turned back to the phone and said to Ash "You know, I think this Haunter might want to come back with you Ash, after all he's been much happier since he heard you called yesterday and you were the first trainer to catch him as well, even if it was unofficial. So would you like to take him back?"

"Wow, is that true Haunter?"

"Haunt Haunt." Haunter replied, adding a nod of his head to make it completely clear that he did.

"Well then I guess all that's left to say to you is welcome back buddy." At this Sabrina and Haunter smiled and after Sabrina had retrieved Haunter's pokéball and returned him she transferred him to Oak's lab in Ash's name. After he had been transferred Sabrina gave Ash a description of the girl and her name, Anabel.

With that Ash set off to Oak's lab and gathered his team. This time his team was composed of Pikachu, Lucario, Mew, Mewtwo, his natural born Charizard and the clone Pidgeot. He explained his plans to the others before setting out, fortunately for Pidgeot, Ash had convinced Lucario to go in his pokéball until they arrived at their destination.

* * *

When they did arrive Lucario came out of his pokéball on his own, giving his trainer a disgruntled look. "Oh come on Lucario. You know as well as I do that we might never have made it in time without Pidgeot's speed and Pidgeot isn't strong enough to carry the both of us for a long time yet." Lucario just gave him a friendly growl as if to say "Jeez, I'm only kidding." The destination they had arrived at was the Pokémon Center in the middle of Route 27.

He walked in and immediately spotted the familiar face of Nurse Joy; he still wondered how Brock could tell them and the different Jenny's apart. After approaching her he got the most important thing out of the way first. "Excuse me Nurse Joy." She looked up ready to help him "Has a girl called Anabel come through here recently? It's just I really need to find her quickly and if she's already been through I should set off after her straight away. Oh, I suppose a bit of a description would help. She should be about the same age as me only a little shorter and she's supposed to have lavender-coloured hair and eyes."

"I'm afraid not but if you know she's in the area she might turn up if you wait."

As Nurse Joy finished speaking the front doors burst open and a girl exactly matching the description Ash had just given ran in shouting at the top of her lungs. "Nurse Joy! Please, you have to help my Kadabra, we were training but some wild Pokémon attacked us and he was poisoned."

"That's terrible!" Nurse Joy cried out. "And what's worse, we ran out of antidotes yesterday and the new stock hasn't arrived."

"Wait, does that mean you won't be able to help Kadabra?" the girl asked while Ash was thinking. He was sure he had been thinking about poison antidotes only a few minutes ago.

"I'll do the best I can but I can't guarantee anything."

Then it hit him "Ah, wait a minute. There was a massive Pecha berry tree on the cliff behind the Center and it was covered in berries too. I'll go get some while you set up to treat the Pokémon Nurse Joy." With that said he ran out of the building before calling out Charizard. "Charizard, I need you to fly up to that tree and grab as many berries as you can." he informed the lizard while pointing at the tree in question. Charizard returned only a minute later with around 20 berries which they took inside, though Charizard had a bit of trouble getting through the door due to his size. When they passed the berries to Nurse Joy she gave them a quick inspection before concluding that they were perfect for the job.

Soon Nurse Joy came out of the emergency room with a smile on her face and gave everyone the good news. "Your Kadabra is going to be just fine young lady, though if it hadn't been for you, young man, it may have taken it months to recover. We should also have enough Pecha berries to last until the next shipment of antidotes arrives thanks to you. So thank you very much."

"She's right, thank you." Added the lavender-haired girl.

"Oh no, it was nothing. I'm just happy to help you guys and the Pokémon. Besides if anyone should get your thanks it's Charizard here as he did all the work." Ash replied, patting Charizard on the arm. Unfortunately for him, this earned him a smoke cloud to the face from said Charizard which made the three Pokémon that were out laugh at his coughing and stuttering. When the cloud dissipated he turned to them with a serious look on his face which made them freeze then he too burst out laughing, shocking the nurse and trainer who were behind him. "Good one Charizard." He managed to force out between his chuckles.

"Excuse me, but do you really find it that funny? It was kind of dangerous don't you think?" The girl asked.

When Ash had recovered from his laughing fit he gave her his response. "Well you see, I've been training hard alongside my Pokémon so my body is pretty resilient these days. And even if that weren't the case, Charizard used to ignore my every request and gave me a flamethrower to the face every time he came out of his pokéball so a smoke cloud isn't that bad for me."

Her jaw dropped at this, she couldn't possibly imagine the Pokémon and trainer in front of her not getting along. "But… You get along so well, how could you ever have disliked each other?"

"Well, believe it or not we didn't and originally neither did me and Pikachu who's my best friend now." Her jaw dropped closer to the floor. "But after a near death experience on our first day together, Pikachu saw that he could trust me and we started working together. As for Charizard, well it took a couple of close calls for him to realise that he didn't want to lose me and in fact wanted to help me. The second of those, when he apparently activated his blaze ability, was when he started trusting me. I took a pair of karate chops in the back trying to protect my Lucario who was just a Riolu back then, a couple of Team Rocket thugs were after him because of his rarity in this region and his distinct colouration."

The girls jaw was now resting squarely on the floor, awed at what he had been through for his Pokémon. "Well anyway, my name is Ash. I don't suppose you would happen to be Anabel? If you are I'm glad I managed to catch you here because I wanted to talk to you."

The girl recovered before answering his question. "Um… Yes, I'm Anabel. I suppose if you were looking for me you want a fight after hearing about my ability?" She asked looking a bit dejected.

"Actually no, I wanted to ask you to tutor me, mind if we sit down and talk somewhere a little more private."

"S-sure." She stuttered. Tutoring, he wanted her to tutor him, just who was this guy?

She lead him outside and after walking for a few minutes they came to a clearing where they sat down and started to talk. "Well, you say you want me to tutor you but I really don't know what I could teach someone like you."

"To be honest, I don't know that you'll be able to help me. But after I got in touch with one of the Gym Leader's I met on my journey regarding training of a certain ability she sniffed around and said you might be able to help me. You see, from what she heard you're able to use telepathy to communicate with your Pokémon in battle and a certain Pokémon of mine has very strong psychic powers and is naturally able to use telepathy. This Pokémon of mine told me I had a lot of psychic potential and if I found someone who could train me then I could probably develop high class telepathic abilities."

"Oh, I see. Well you heard right that I can talk to my Pokémon telepathically though I can only just do it and it's only with the Pokémon I'm closest too. Plus I never really actually trained, it just came to me naturally so I'm not sure I can do anything to help you."

"Well, how about this. If you have no objection I could travel with you for a few days and you could describe what it feels like when you communicate with them and when you find it easiest to communicate with them. If you would be willing to do that for me I would be so grateful to you." Ash said, determined to make sure the trip wasn't entirely wasted.

"Well, I don't know if it will help but ok. It's the least I can do after you helped me and Kadabra earlier." Ash decided not to remind her that he didn't mind helping out in the least so long as she consented to helping him.

"Thank you so much, why don't we head back to the Pokémon Center for now?" She agreed with his proposal and they headed back with Pikachu on Ash's shoulder and Lucario walking beside them.

* * *

A few days had passed and using what Anabel had told him he had quickly developed to the point where he could detect the emotions of others even when they were unstable. He was now sat in a small meadow atop a high cliff. You could hear the sea crashing against the base of the cliffs and the seagulls crying out in the skies above. Ash however was completely oblivious to all of this as he had relaxed himself as much as possible in a meditative state. Beside him sat Pikachu who was acting as what you might call a test subject while Anabel watched over them. Over the last few days the two had grown remarkably close and she was interested in seeing the results of his training, though there was another feeling that suggested to her that she might have an interest in something, or rather someone, else.

As Ash sat there he allowed the emotions of those surrounding him to wash over him before they settled into their rightful 'places' in his mind. This was the furthest he had ever gotten but he was determined to get further than this before the two of them had to go their separate ways. This determination prevented him from becoming more at peace though and so he calmly worked to dissipate it before relaxing even further, diving to the deepest parts of his mind to find anything else that might obstruct the path to his goal.

As he explored those depths though, he felt something new. It was like there was a solitary spark of electricity running through his mind and for some reason this spark reminded him of Pikachu. This intrigued him and intrigue was no good at the moment so he decided to find out what it was. He hunted it down and grabbed a hold if it, as he did so Pikachu and Anabel noticed his body go momentarily rigid before relaxing again, even more than it had been before.

"_Man, I don't think I've ever seen Ash this relaxed before."_ Came a voice in Ash's head. At this point his eyes snapped open and he turned to look at Pikachu who returned his look with a questioning one.

"P-Pikachu? Did you just think that you had never seen me this relaxed before?" Ash asked his companion whose eyes widened and head slowly nodded. "Then I think that means that I just managed to hear what you were thinking, I'll try again." Ash delved back into his mind and relaxed himself until he found that spark again, he grasped it and this time decided to try to say something instead of listening _"Hello?"_ Back in the real world Pikachu jumped and Anabel noticed this.

"_Ash?"_ thought Pikachu to him.

"_Yeah, it is. Alright that means I've finally managed to talk to you!"_ Ash was ecstatic at this but then he felt something else in his mind. _"Hmmm… What's this sweet smell?"_ he looked around for the source of the smell and soon found what looked to him like a small flower in the plains of his mind. As he touched it he entered into another mind.

"_He's trying so hard. It's incredible."_ Anabel's voice sounded in his head.

"_Anabel?"_ Ash asked curiously.

This time it was Anabel's turn to jump slightly as the voice registered in her head. _"Is that really you Ash?"_ she asked just to be sure.

"_Yep, I was wondering what that sweet smelling flower was, I guess it makes sense now I think about it. Well, I'll get out of your head, I think that's enough practice for today."_ Anabel felt his presence leave her and blushed slightly at the implication of his words. Did he really think she was somehow similar to a sweet flower?

The next morning as they were tidying up their campsite Ash noticed a small blue Pokémon with what looked like some sort of helmet made of rock covering the top of its head. "Hey Anabel, do you know what that Pokémon is because I've never seen anything like it before."

"No, I don't and I know just about every Pokémon from Kanto and Johto."

Ash wondered what it could be that neither of them knew what it was. He realised that he could just check his pokédex and pulled it out. His new national pokédex had arrived shortly before he decided to leave and find Anabel so he could now identify it even if it wasn't form Kanto. He pointed it at the small Pokémon that he now noticed was stood on the cliff edge looking longingly at the sky.

The pokédex finished its analysis and announced its result.

"Number Three hundred and seventy one. Bagon- the rock head Pokémon. These Pokémon are native to the Hoenn region and dream of one day being able to fly, they practice by leaping off cliffs every day."

When Dexter had finished his report Ash and Anabel looked at each other fearfully. "I guess that explains why we didn't recognise it. But if that Bagon jumps then it'll probably drown in the ocean." Ash told Anabel as he raced towards it. When Ash was only a foot away from it the cliff crumbled underfoot and the two began falling.

The Bagon flailed its arms wildly in an unsuccessful attempt to fly and Ash picked up on its extreme panic with his newfound abilities. He grabbed a hold of it as they fell before pulling out a pokéball. "Pidgeot, I choose you." The bird Pokémon came out and quickly observed that situation before diving after Ash and catching him on her back. She flew them all back to the campsite before landing and letting them down. Ash set the Bagon down on the ground at which point he was surprised as it started to nuzzle him affectionately. Ash turned to Pidgeot and decided to try his newest ability once more, he searched through his mind until he found his way in to Pidgeot's mind. _"Thank you for your hard work Pidgeot."_ Ash said through their connection.

"_You're quite welcome A… Wait, did you just use telepathy, you did didn't you. Congratulations on reaching your goal."_

"_Thank you but I still haven't nearly perfected it yet."_ He said through their link before speaking out loud. "Pidgeot return and get a good rest, you've earned it."

Anabel then realised why he had been silent for a minute. "You were talking with Pidgeot telepathically weren't you?"

"Yes, I was. I'm going to try it with Bagon too so I can figure out just how far I've come."

"That makes sense." Anabel told him as he approached the small blue Pokémon and sat down in front of it. He relaxed himself and began looking for the entrance to Bagon's mind. It took him a while longer than it had with Pidgeot and Bagon was looking at him inquisitively by the time he found it. When he did he sat up smiling.

"_I wonder what that human is doing. That smile he's giving me is kind of creepy but I don't really mind after all he did save me."_ Bagon thought and Ash heard.

"_Well, I was trying to get in here so I could talk to you."_ Ash said telepathically making it squawk in alarm while Ash toned down his smile. _"Sorry about the creepy smile though. How are you feeling? I take it you weren't injured when we fell."_

The Bagon realised who it was talking too and its eyes widened before realising it had been asked a question and should answer. _"I'm fine thank you, still no success with flying though."_ It answered grouchily.

At this Ash laughed. _"Well at least you're alright. As for flying, I don't think you'll ever be able to fly in that body."_ After a quick look at his pokédex he continued. _"Though it seems like you would be able to fly once you reached your fully evolved form, Salamence. I suspect that will take a while though even if you train hard."_

"_Then will you train me? The Pokémon with you are all obviously very strong so I think I would evolve faster that way. It would also give a chance to repay my debt to you for having saved my life."_

Ash was so shocked that he lost the telepathic connection. When he came back to his senses he accepted the request. "Alright then Bagon, welcome to the family." He said, holding out a pokéball. "Though you should know that you will be transferred to another location for now as my team is full and I kind of need everybody on it with me for now."

"Ba Bagon!" It said happily before tapping the pokéball with its head. The pokéball didn't even shake once before it pinged to signify a successful capture. It then glowed before disappearing off to Professor Oak's laboratory.

"Well, that makes a second Pokémon of yours that I know about from a different region. That will give your opponents in the League a shock." Anabel told him.

"Oh, they'll be in for a shock alright just not from those two." Ash replied with a chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, but if you watch my matches you'll find out, probably in the last few rounds in particular."

"You really think you can get that far in your first try?"

"I'm sure I can. And I won't just get that far either; I'm going to win the whole tournament." Ash said with great conviction.

* * *

It was a couple of days since Ash's capture of Bagon and he had now all but perfected his telepathy. It took quite a shock to shake him from his conversations now and he could also do other things at the same time such as help set up camp.

The group of Ash, Pikachu, Lucario and Anabel were now approaching Tohjo Falls were they would go their separate ways. Anabel would go further into Johto with a man who had already qualified as a Frontier Brain; hopefully he would be a nice guy as Anabel was to be apprenticed to him if she won the tournament which Ash had a gut feeling she would. Ash on the other hand would make his way to New Island though he had recently decided to stop off at the Indigo Plateau first so that Mewtwo could teleport them straight there at the end of their training.

After a couple more hours of walking the group came to the base of the waterfalls and looked up in awe. Ash used this opportunity to take a picture of them all together as he wasn't sure if they would meet again and the majestic backdrop was perfect. This was where Anabel had been told to wait for the Frontier Brain who would guide her so they settled down and relaxed. Soon after Ash sensed someone in the bushes behind them and jumped up shouting. "Who's there?"

A man that Ash guessed to be in his early thirties walked out of the shrubbery, he had brown hair, sharp eyes and was dressed in a dark green jacket and trousers. "Your senses are well developed if you managed to detect me from there young man. I am the Pyramid King Brandon but who are you?"

"I'm Ash and these are my friends Anabel, Pikachu and Lucario." He said pointing to each of them in turn.

"Anabel? Are you perhaps the Anabel that Scott asked me to pick up?" he questioned her.

"If you're the Frontier Brain here to take me to the qualifier tournament then yes I am."

"Well that is my purpose here and now that I have found you I suggest you prepare to leave in no more than an hour as we have a long way to go. And I'm afraid your friend Ash here won't be able to come either, only participants and Battle Frontier officials may enter the tournament grounds. You should know as well, you are the only participant to be given a guide that is actually a Frontier Brain despite a few of us being available. That makes it clear that Scott has high hopes for you young lady, especially that it was me he asked to come as I'm the current strongest Brain." Brandon informed Anabel.

At this point Ash stood up and spoke. "Well, I was going to be off soon anyway so I guess know is as good a time as any. Here, these are some berries to help keep your Pokémon healthy." At this point he handed her a small bag filled with various berries before continuing. "It was nice to spend some time with you Anabel, you're a good friend and I'll miss you but we each have our separate paths to walk. I hope we meet again."

Brandon watched as Ash packed the few things he had out into his seemingly bottomless backpack. As he watched he saw something that caught his eye and he was stunned before he suddenly shouted "Nooo!" as Ash lifted a pokéball to recall Lucario. The volume of his shout caused a large number of Pidgey to fly out of the canopy of the surrounding forest as well as making Ash drop his pokéball.

"What?" Ash asked, all of them having been shocked by Brandon's sudden outburst.

"Your Lucario… it's white."

"Yeah, I know that. So if that's all I'll be going."

"Nooo!" Brandon shouted again "You don't seem to understand, though you may think a white Lucario is rare it is actually far more than that. I am an expert archaeologist and have examined many ruins across the nation, even some from Sinnoh. It was in some Sinnoh ruins that I deciphered some texts pertaining to a white Lucario."

This froze everyone in their place as they wanted to know more, Ash also honed his psychic senses to make sure Brandon wasn't lying. Brandon continued on with the complete truth. "When I deciphered these texts I found that only one white Lucario existed in the world at any time, if any. It was said that this white Lucario would always become the strongest of its kind and was hence all but revered. The texts also referred to a single case in their recorded history where a white Lucario consented to partner with a trainer and that trainer was the strongest aura user of their civilisation. This intrigued me and I looked into legends of civilisations both before and since then, what I found was that the few mentions of white Lucario always had them partnered with the strongest aura practitioner the civilisation witnessed, also known as the Aura Champion of those civilisations."

"Ok, two things. One, what on Earth is aura? And two, are you telling me I'm supposed to be some sort of hero that will go down in legends?"

"I do not know how to explain aura myself other than that it is what many Lucario use to hone their senses and is the force that composes an aura sphere attack. Perhaps your Lucario would be able to tell you more if you could understand it but I very much doubt you can.

Before Brandon could continue Ash held a short mental conversation with Lucario. _"Do you know any more about aura than that Lucario?"_

"_I am afraid not, my mother once told me that she would explain it and train me in it once I grew some more but only a few days after that Team Rocket kidnapped me so I was never able to learn about it. As a result I know nothing of the principles behind aura, nor do I know how to train myself or others such as you to use it. I can only use it as much as I can because that is a natural level of ability for us Lucario."_

"_Oh well, it was worth a try. Maybe we'll find someone in the future who can train us."_

This telepathic exchange finished just as Brandon continued, not having noticed the slight change in Ash's demeanour. "As for being some legendary hero, to put it simply, yes I am. I should also add that each of these 'heroes' as you say was in possession of a legendary Pokémon so you shouldn't be surprised if you meet one in the future." At this Ash shuffled uncomfortably and Brandon noticed. His eyes widened as he questioned him. "You already have, haven't you?"

At this Ash froze and Pikachu and Lucario took up defensive postures beside him until they heard Mewtwo's voice for the first time in almost a week. _"Ash, this man is on to us and if we do not provide answers he may sniff around and cause more harm than if we simply tell him. Besides, I can tell that he has no malicious intent towards us and he seems trustworthy so we should be fine."_ The three of them relaxed slightly.

"_Alright then Mewtwo, I'll let you guys out but give me a minute as I'm still a bit nervous about this and I have some explaining to do to Anabel. By the way, if this goes wrong I'm blaming you."_ Mewtwo chuckled at Ash's reaction before silencing himself to allow Ash to talk freely with the other two humans. "Well, Anabel. You remember the other day when I caught that Bagon and said that people would be surprised by my Pokémon but not because they're from different regions." Her eyes widened as he continued. "I'm sorry for not telling you about them sooner but we decided it was best to keep them a secret until the League."

"Plural?" Brandon asked.

"Yes Brandon, plural. I choose you, Mew, Mewtwo." He threw their respective pokéballs in the air and in two flashes of light they appeared before him. Mew immediately made to zoom off and explore the area but Ash called her back. "Mew, you can't play now. I need you here for this but I'll let you play with the others when we arrive at our true destination tomorrow." Mew flew back down and pouted at him but accepted her trainer's words, mainly due to the promise of time to play tomorrow which she looked forward to.

Brandon's eyes shot out on stalks at the sight of them. "Isn't Mewtwo the new legendary that Professor Oak of Kanto discovered just the other day. However did you come to be in possession of it?"

"First of all Mewtwo is a he not an it." Ash said somewhat aggravated by Brandon's words. "Mew is also a she for future reference. As for how they joined me I will simply say that they asked me if they could join after a certain incident and I will not go into further detail. I will tell you that Mewtwo is the only one of its species and Professor Oak was able to gather information about them because he was allowed to examine them after I captured them. It was him who sponsored me when I began my training so he would have found out that I had them even if I had not discussed the matter with him a short while before I captured them. I asked him to withhold the information before I left for my final month of training in isolation with my Pokémon; though we left about a week early so we could find Anabel here to see if she could help me train my psychic powers which she could."

"_Everything Ash has told you is true; if you want information about us before we joined Ash then I am afraid your questions will go unanswered as I am not willing to divulge that information."_ Mewtwo added shocking Anabel and Brandon.

"Y-You can talk?" Asked Anabel.

"_Obviously."_ Mewtwo replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So not only are you an Aura Champion, you also possess two legendaries and psychic powers. This is pretty difficult to believe you know."

"Well, I'm not the one telling you the Aura Champion stuff but as for the other two things, yeah it is pretty hard to believe. When Mew and Mewtwo asked to join me I was completely shocked, Mewtwo I could kind of understand but I had no idea why Mew wanted to join me. I didn't even know about my psychic powers though until Mewtwo told me about them." Brandon looked at Mewtwo as if to ask if what Ash had said was true and Mewtwo answered.

"_It was indeed I that informed Ash of his high psychic potential. Though on that point I believe I underestimated the level of your powers due to their chaotic nature at the time. I now see that your level of power approaches that of Mew or myself and that combined with the exceptional speed of your development in the arts suggests that you may actually be a Psychic Prince."_

"Okay… Wait a minute; did you just say Psychic Prince? What is that?" Ash responded.

Surprisingly it was Anabel that answered this time. "It's supposed to be the strongest type of psychic user there is, similar to the Aura Champion for aura practitioners I guess. I heard about the title a few times when I was looking into my own abilities but never looked any deeper as it obviously didn't apply to me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you telling me that I am both the strongest human psychic and the strongest human aura practitioner even though I only found out I had any psychic abilities about a week ago and hadn't even heard of aura before today?"

"_Yes, and as a Psychic Prince you are also able to use both 'telepathy' and 'telekinesis'. Fortunately I can tutor you in the use of 'telekinesis' as I received training in it when training for battle."_

"You know Ash, you're something pretty special." Anabel said.

"Yeah, I know. But right now I just wish I was another normal kid."

"_Ash, this doesn't have to change the way you live. As far as I know, the Psychic Prince has no particular responsibilities and I suspect that it is the same for Aura Champions though Brandon probably knows more about that than me."_

"Well, I don't know a lot about the subject but most people, even Aura Guardians who tend to know more about the subject than anybody else, know nothing of the Aura Champions and aura practitioners are usually told to simply follow their own path and the aura will present itself to them if they will be required to use it. By that point though most aura users that find their aura have already started undergoing training to become an Aura Guardian. Basically, nothing is likely to be expected of you so you're immune to responsibilities on that front for now at least." Brandon told them.

"Well, I suppose that's better than nothing."

"Ash, with you having these abilities and Pokémon you would make a great addition to the ranks of the Frontier Brains and I'm sure I could pull some strings with Scott to get you into a qualifier tournament so what do you say?" Brandon suggested. Anabel smiled at the thought of travelling with Ash for longer and maybe even working alongside him. This smile was wiped off her face by Ash's answer though.

"Sorry Brandon but as I said earlier, I have my own path to follow. I plan to win the upcoming Indigo Conference and even after that I think I'd rather go travelling some more than end up sitting around at some facility most of the time. If there's another way to qualify in the future then I might try, and who knows maybe I'll become a Frontier Brain then or in the future but for now, I know that my path lies in travelling."

"That's quite a mature viewpoint for someone so young but I can understand where you are coming from. I'm fortunate in that regard as I have the only moving battle facility because I still investigate ruins and perform archaeological digs as a part of my job but the rest of the facilities will be stationary. I get away with it because the money I get from my research can help to keep things running more smoothly for Scott."

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Ash said dejectedly, looking at Anabel. "Good luck in the tournament, though I doubt you'll need it. I've seen your battling skills when we trained together and you're first class. And don't you worry about being forgotten or anything either; when you get your own facility I want you to give Professor Oak a call and ask him to pass you phone number on to me. When he does, I'll be sure to call you from time to time. Besides; I get the feeling we'll meet again in the future, maybe I'll end up challenging this Battle Frontier of Scott's and then I'll have to challenge you to win it."

The concept of regular calls from Ash and meeting him again put the smile back on her face once again. Ash then turned to Brandon. "You'd better treat her well, because if you don't I'll hunt you down with all of my Pokémon and we'll make sure you know what I do to people who hurt my friends." This time his voice had taken on a slightly darker tone which shocked Anabel and Brandon, though Anabel also blushed at Ash's protectiveness and he picked up an emotion he didn't recognise from her. He couldn't figure out what it was and that was bugging him because he got the feeling it was important.

When Ash had finished his farewells he recalled Lucario and asked Pidgeot to come out and give them a lift. Anabel had been walking away with Brandon but suddenly ran back to Ash as he was about to climb on to Pidgeot. He turned to her wondering what the problem was when she suddenly kissed him on the cheek and he froze in place. Pikachu's and Pidgeot's jaws dropped at this as Anabel ran back to Brandon before they walked away with a spring in Anabel's step. Ash suddenly heard Mewtwo burst out laughing in his head.

"_Now do you know what that emotion was?"_

"_I do. But I feel bad because I don't feel the same way and I didn't even tell her before she left, that might hurt her more than just being told that I don't like her that way…"_

"_You may be right but what's done is done and she is gone now. You can do nothing until you meet again; it is then that the hurt will come."_

With that exchange over Ash climbed on to Pidgeot, Pikachu sat in front of him for security and they took off for the Indigo Plateau.

* * *

**Awww, poor Anabel. I liked her character and as a possible romance but I didn't know how to make it work without Ash settling down or Anabel quitting which I just can't see them doing. Yes, Ash was still dense in this area, as Mewtwo explained at the beginning he won't just know what an emotion is because he can feel it from someone. If he hasn't experienced it himself or through another person he won't know it unless he's had it described to him or something, even if he has felt it before he still has to have figured it out from then. But now he knows what that emotion is so will all be well?**

**Another thing, these abilities aren't going to be every day occurrences, the only one that I intend to make common is the one he set out to train as that is the most important to him in my opinion.**

**So now all I think I have left to say is that I hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review.**


	4. From Humble Beginning to Great Victories

**Author's Note**

**Hello again to all, I think the results of my poll are pretty definite so I will be closing that once I put this out. For those of you that haven't looked at it the result is that Cynthia clearly wins, with a lead of 30 votes out of 63. The poll that is now up is about individual pokeballs for special Pokémon so feel free to take a look.**

**Now to those of you who seem to have been slightly annoyed with my not making Anabel an option while I did make gym leaders and a champion options I will explain why. The gym leaders I put in the poll all had a way I could see them leaving (I won't say how as I may well write stories in the future using those methods to get them out of their gyms) but the gym remain open. Elesa was the only one who I wasn't quite sure how to do it completely, though I had most of a basis, but a pm from a reader quickly corrected that so she was a major option. That gets them out of their responsibilities and as for Cynthia... Just how many people do you guys think are capable of beating the elite four? I'm pretty sure that the number of challenges she gets is extremely low from those in the elite four and challenges from the elite four would be seriously big events so they would take a bit of time to get everything ready which would give her the opportunity to get back.**

**Now for the 'using teleport to meet up option'. In my fics teleport will work in two ways. The first is short range in which the user can teleport to any location within a certain range, say a kilometre for example. Outside of that range the user can only teleport to places they have visited before or someone who's mind they can enter and 'visit' the location through has. However, the longer the range of the jump the more power/energy it takes. Hence once Ash was in more distant regions the Pokémon using teleport, would have to be Mew or Mewtwo if even possible, would be exhausted from going one way and Ash wouldn't put his Pokémon through that just to meet up with someone. Sure she could use other methods of transport but in my opinion she would have to take too much time out for it all to work that way so not happening. Hate me for it if you like but I really don't see the point. Besides, I do like her so I may well do some sort of story with her in it at some point anyway.**

**Garm88:**  
**I will not be having him catch as many herds of Pokémon though I do know of at least one more he will catch but that won't be for a while. However, when it comes to normal Pokémon I already have many ideas in the works for several new Pokémon, most will be caught either individually or several over time, for example I don't think I'm going to do all the eeveelutions at one time like Sabor but I think Ash does have to get them all at some point. If you get one then you have to get them all and I can't see myself not giving him at least one but that will happen across the entire story as will another sub plot I have which is to do with a certain four Pokémon, I'll leave you guessing at which. ;)**

**And as several people have inquired about them I will simply say I like Larvitars, so he might well get one but again I won't give any specific time frame once again as I don't want to spoil things for everyone.**

**That's all I think I had to say in answer to questions/statements from you my readers. Sorry if I missed out a question, I hadn't got any reviews since around last weekend, though that is understandable, so I might have missed something.**

**Well now I'm back from my busy week I will hopefully be able to finish a chapter or two and maybe even start a chapter for one of the other stories I'm considering. Have two currently in the semi-planning stages so who knows. I've just finished the League and am starting on the follow up before heading to the orange islands and I quite liked that series so I think I'll be able to so pretty well with that while putting in several completely original adventures of my own :D**

I'd be grateful if you could read the author's note at the end as it has a couple of requests for you guys but I don't want to spoil your reading by thinking about them while you're reading. ;P

**On with the story then.**

**As usual:**  
**"Normal Speech"**  
**_"Telepathic Speech"_**  
**_'Private Thoughts'_**  
**'Quoting Someone/Something'**

* * *

**Master Quest Chapter 4 – From Humble Beginnings to Great Victories.**

It had been about a month since Ash had left Anabel to train in isolation for the Indigo League and that League was only a few days away. It was the last day for registration and Ash had just finished packing away everything they had set up on New Island. After their first week of being there Ash had realised something, what was there to stop Team Rocket or anyone else from coming to the island. Mewtwo, when asked about it, had proceeded to explain to him that it was impossible to find the island unless you already knew of it or were invited, this was due to some strange mystical property it had that not even Mewtwo could explain. As for Team Rocket, well the same principles applied to them so they could have come a calling if not for something Mewtwo had spent their week with Anabel working on.

He had slowly been removing any memories that related to him or New Island from the memories of every Team Rocket member. Even Giovanni had fallen prey to Mewtwo's memory wipe; it amazed Ash that Mewtwo had been able to do all of this from the safety of his pokéball without finding it difficult in the least. It had only taken him a week because there were so many members of the organisation and it was a delicate procedure.

Now that Ash had finished tidying up though, it was time to get going. _"Alright everyone, gather up in the main hall 'cause we have to leave soon."_ He shouted with his mind. It was easier to use his telepathy in this case as he was now powerful enough that covering the island was easy, trying to shout across the whole island with his voice however was impossible. All of his many Pokémon had soon gathered in the main hall, fortunately for him Mewtwo's island was outside the range of the carry limiter so he could train everybody at once, not just six at a time. Now that everyone had gathered Pikachu decided to pose the question that everybody wanted the answer to but nobody wanted to ask.

"_So who's in the team Ash?"_

"_Hey, what's the deal squirt? You're obviously gonna be on it so why do you care?"_ Charizard pointed out.

"_Well even if I am on the team I still want to know who's coming with me and it isn't like anyone else was going to ask you were all too chicken."_

"_Alright that's enough Pikachu, you both have a point but I would have answered the question without anyone asking. Oh, and Pikachu, stop taunting Charizard so much."_ Pikachu pouted at this; sometimes it had been better when Ash still couldn't understand them as they could get away with teasing each other a lot. Ever since they'd arrived at New Island though Ash had been using mental communications to improve his ability, so they couldn't get away with anything. _"Alright listen up, the Pokémon that will be on my team will be Pikachu, Lucario, Mew, Mewtwo, Ninetales and Rapidash."_

The first four had been obvious as they were some of the closest to Ash or the ones that he needed to make sure nobody found out about. Rapidash and Ninetales were ecstatic at being chosen and bounded over to Ash to nuzzle him while yipping and whinnying. The others all felt a bit down at this news before Ash told them something that cheered them right up. _"Well I will be changing my Pokémon every day and Mew will be returning to the lab once the tournament gets started up. So you'll all get a chance to stay with me for a while."_ Everybody was cheered up significantly by this and Ash returned them to their pokéballs before making a call to Professor Oak with the videophone and pokéball transporter.

"Hello, Oak laboratory speaking."

"Hey Professor, it's me Ash."

"Ash my boy, it's good to see you again." He said as he turned on the camera feed. "How's everyone doing? It's been a while since I heard from you so I was beginning to wonder."

"Everyone is doing great thanks Professor; in fact I was just calling to transfer them before I head over to the Indigo Plateau."

"Well I'm ready when you are Ash so shall we step to it?"

"Let's. Oh, and Professor, I know that Wigglytuff was quite attached to my mom so if it wants to go stay with her I don't mind so long as you have no objection."

"That's fine with me Ash; in fact it might even help with my research, who knows. Well it looks like that's everyone Ash and I see several of them have evolved too so congratulations on training them so well."

"That's everyone that's going back and thanks for the compliment but I couldn't have done it without their hard work, dedication and loyalty. If that's all then I'll be off as registration closes at noon and it's already almost eight."

"That's all Ash, I'm sure I'll see you soon. Bye."

The call ended and Ash turned to the small group behind him, Mew, Ninetales and Rapidash had already been returned to their pokéballs so it was just him Pikachu, Lucario and Mewtwo. Pikachu jumped up to his place on Ash's shoulder just before Ash gave the word and they disappeared in a flash of blue. New Island was empty once more.

* * *

In the forest a short distance from the Indigo Plateau Pokémon Center there was a large flash of blue light as Ash, Pikachu, Lucario and Mewtwo appeared only for Mewtwo to be immediately recalled so nobody could spot him. "Sorry buddy." Ash said to the pokéball before the group of three set off for the edge of the forest.

A short while later they exited the forest almost right in front of the Pokémon Center before making their way inside it. Ash spotted Brock and Misty and waved them over as he approached the front desk. "Good morning Nurse Joy, I was hoping you could sign me up for the Indigo Conference."

"Certainly young man, I just need your name, badges and identification."

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet town and here are my badges and pokédex." He said handing her the items in question. Ash suddenly realised something, Brock had not made a move on Nurse Joy. He looked over to his shoulder to find out why and saw that Misty had decided to make a pre-emptive strike. She was currently in the process of dragging him out the door, her mallet over her shoulder. He was glad his friends hadn't changed in his absence.

"Oh my, it's been a long time since I've seen a national pokédex but I suppose you would need it with that Lucario of yours." She scanned the badges and pokédex to verify their authenticity before handing them back. "Well, everything seems to be in order and you're all signed up now. Good luck in the tournament."

"Thanks Nurse Joy. Have a nice time." Ash finished before heading out to meet his friends. Once he got outside he walked over to the two of them. "It's been a while guys. It certainly looks like you two haven't changed much in my absence." He greeted with a light-hearted chuckle.

"You're right about that, though it looks like you've changed quite a bit." Misty replied, blushing slightly and squeezing Togepi a little tighter to her body as she saw how toned his body had become.

Brock saw this and grinned before thinking _'Oh, how I will enjoy teasing her about this later.'_ He then added his own greeting. "Misty's right Ash but how's everyone else, especially 'those two'?"

"Thanks guys!" Ash said, sporting a large grin. The grin was there to cover his nervousness though as he had noticed the blush too and felt a spike in one of Misty's emotions at the same time, that emotion was the very same one he had felt from Anabel just before she kissed him and ran off. "Everyone is doing great Brock; you know I even have two more Pokémon now. One of them you already know, an old friend sent him along to me while the second is completely new and isn't even from Kanto or Johto. I caught it while I was travelling with Anabel but I was shocked when my pokédex told me it was from Hoenn. 'Those two' in particular are doing very well though as are the two beside me, I think I'd have to say that all four of them make up a part of my strongest team now."

"Well that's no surprise, we all know how strong Pikachu and those two were even before your intensive training and your Lucario proved itself to be extremely strong as well. Shall we start heading over to the League grounds now so we can get checked in and find our lodge before the opening ceremony?" Brock inquired.

"We may as well." Ash agreed and they began to walk down the road towards the main stadium. Soon they came across an unusual sight though. In the middle of the road were a minibus and a motorbike just like the ones that the many Officer Jenny's used. A cry of pain was heard from the other side of the vehicles so the group decided to check it out.

"Oh no. What are we going to do? With your ankle sprained like this there's no way you can keep running now." Said Officer Jenny's voice. Upon rounding the vehicles the group saw an Officer Jenny stood over a young man who was sat on the floor and looked to be in pain. A third person was crouching over the young man; he was an elderly man dressed in a red and blue shirt with green shorts. He had a great big bushy beard the same colour as his long, shaggy white hair which was covered with a back to front blue cap.

"Excuse me Officer Jenny, is there a problem?" Ash asked as Misty made another pre-emptive strike on Brock, dragging him away by the ear before he could make a move on Jenny. "Wait a minute, aren't you Mr Goodshow, president of the Pokémon League?"

"Why yes I am young man. Our problem is that this young man was meant to be running the Moltres Flame to the stadium for the opening ceremony of the Indigo Conference but he's sprained his ankle and can't run the rest of the journey. We could get another participant to run the rest of the way but they're almost all at the stadium grounds by now so I don't know if we'll find anyone." The elderly man responded.

"Well I'm a participant and I think I could manage the rest of the run, it's only a couple of miles." Ash said, presenting his badges as evidence that he was entering.

"What a turn of luck!" President Goodshow announced cheerfully. "Might I ask what your name is young man?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town sir."

"Ah, so you're Ash Ketchum. Professor Oak told me about your unique situation but don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Though knowing what I do about you I think you'll go far so that's one more reason to let you carry this." He said, pulling out a metal torch with a yellow and red flame atop it.

As Ash went to take the flame from him he sensed a spike of greed from nearby and called out to his Pokémon. "Pikachu and Lucario, defensive positions now. There are thieves nearby." The two Pokémon did as Ash commanded while he looked around to try and find the source of the greed.

"Are you sure Ash? I don't see anyone but us and your friends around." Officer Jenny voiced her own opinion.

Ash groaned out load as he noticed something. "Look over there, the dirt is darker there and I'd be willing to bet it's a pitfall trap. And that means that it must be those three idiots from Team Rocket who are always after Pikachu."

"Hey, who are you calling idiots?" Three voices exclaimed as their owners jumped from the bushes. The moment they did this however, they were spotted by Pikachu and Lucario who hit them with a thunderbolt and aura sphere respectively. The two attacks sent the group of failed thieves flying as they shouted out their infamous line. "It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

"Those are some pretty well trained Pokémon Ash which just goes to prove my point. I'll let you run with the flame and your friends can get a lift with me if they help get this young man aboard the minibus."

"I'll stay behind to make sure nobody falls into this pitfall but I'll call ahead so my family knows what happened." Officer Jenny added.

"Alright then." Ash took the flame from Mr Goodshow before calling to the others. "Hey Misty, Brock?"

"Yes?" Misty answered too sweetly as she came around the corner with Togepi in her arms but no Brock behind her, Ash shuddered at the thought of what she might have done to him.

"If you and Brock can help President Goodshow get this guy on the bus then you can get a lift with him while I run the torch the rest of the way to the stadium." With that said she went and got Brock before the two fulfilled their end of the bargain and boarded the minibus while Ash set off with the torch. Once they had rounded the pitfall there was a flash of light as Ninetales and Rapidash came out of their pokéballs to run alongside him. "So you guys want some exercise too huh? Well, that's fine with me so let's go."

Back on the bus the group was looking at Ash's Pokémon. "Hey Brock, is it just me or are Rapidash and Ninetales much more gorgeous than when we last saw them?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, they are." Brock replied slightly in awe of Ash's Pokémon. "I guess he must have started feeding them proper vitamins while he was away to get them as healthy as they could be."

Soon the group was nearing the stadium and the minibus went on ahead so President Goodshow could receive the torch in the traditional manner. As Ash got closer he was able to hear the announcements coming out over the loud speakers. "The Pokémon League President Mr Charles Goodshow has just arrived at the Indigo Stadium to receive the torch. It seems that a few guests were with him on the bus as a result of an incident during the torch run. The previous runner apparently sprained his ankle a short way past the Indigo Plateau main Pokémon Center but another participant was fortunately able to take up the challenge of running the torch. It seems that the guests were this previous runner and his replacement, Ash Ketchum's, friends."

"What's this; I have just received a report that says the Officer Jenny who was originally travelling with the President and torch stayed behind near the location of the incident to fill in a pitfall trap set up by some wannabe torch thieves. These thieves were apparently members of Team Rocket but their plan failed when Mr Ketchum noticed their presence and the trap and had his Pokémon send them flying. Well people I think this young man deserves an even bigger welcome than usual so let's give him a massive cheer when he arrives." As she finished saying this Ash rounded the final corner and ran between the crowds lining either side of the road who were cheering him as if there were no tomorrow.

Ash approached Mr Goodshow, flanked by all his Pokémon who were eliciting sounds of awe from the crowd with their magnificence. He then handed him the torch and leaned back on Rapidash from a brief respite as the crowds cheered and the President invited everyone to the opening ceremony at eight in the evening. As their job was over Ash's Pokémon all bundled onto him, congratulating him on completing the run so quickly and wanting a play now that work was over and done with. Several people in the audience went "Awwwww." at this as they found it sweet to see a trainer and his Pokémon getting along so well.

* * *

A little while later Ash had checked in and received the keys to his lodge. After the group had dumped their belongings in the rooms they chose, Brock and Misty caved in and gave Ash the attic room as he and his Pokémon needed more privacy with Mew and Mewtwo around, they all headed over to the Indigo Stadium for the opening ceremony. Ash was now stood in the centre of the stadium with all the other participants listening to Mr Goodshow's speech. "… and now we will finish the opening ceremony with the lighting of the flame of Moltres." As he said this, a young girl jogged into the stadium and up the stairs to the cauldron where the flame would sit.

"And it looks like a pair of League officials will take the torch to light the cauldron." An announcer said over the speaker system. But Ash knew better, he recognised the hair of the 'officials' and felt their greed, it was Team Rocket once again.

"Stop!" Ash shouted. "Those aren't officials, they're Team Rocket." The girl looked around, shocked at this development but Jessie snatched the torch away from her before the group removed their disguises. Ash quickly ran up the stairs and when he reached the top he spoke once more. "Give back that torch!"

"You think we want this puny thing?" Jessie asked.

"No way! We want somethin' much bigger." Meowth added as Jessie lit the cauldron and a large mantis-like machine appeared, climbing over the wall and lifting the cauldron onto its back. Team Rocket got into their machine before jumping down to the centre of the stadium and terrorising the participants and audience. Ash charged back down the stairs and had Pikachu attack it with a thunderbolt but it seemed the machine was insulated against electricity. "Damn, it's not working." With this Team Rocket decided to attack them but Ash had other plans and called for a double iron tail attack from Pikachu and Lucario which successfully destroyed the machine, but now the cauldron was flying through the air.

Fortunately it landed back where it had originally come from but the flames had been thrown out and were falling towards Ash. As they engulfed him and his Pokémon the crowds watched in horror. However, before their very eyes the flames reformed into the shape of the bird they came from, Moltres. It stood over Ash, wings curled protectively around him as a voice spoke in all their minds _"Your heart is truly pure, Ash."_ Eyes widened in shock throughout the stadium at this before the flames flew back to the cauldron in their Moltres form. When they reached the cauldron the flames collapsed back to normal.

"Well it looks like Ash has Moltres' full support as well." Goodshow muttered under his breath before speaking aloud to the crowds. "Well folks, with that the opening ceremony is over. The battle rounds start in two days so I hope to see you there."

As they were leaving Ash had a quick mental conversation with his Pokémon just to be sure that his theory was right. _"That wasn't any of you was it?"_

"_No Ash, I am quite sure that was Moltres using its flame as an avatar to speak with you."_ Mewtwo said and all the others agreed proving his theory to be correct.

* * *

It was one o' clock two days later and Ash was in his box on the water field. He had discovered that to make it to the victory tournament you first had to win a battle on each of the four elemental fields; Water, Grass, Rock and Ice. After that there would be 16 trainers left who would battle it out in the victory tournament for the top spot as winner.

His opponent on this field would be a guy who went by the name 'The Astounding Mandi'. The guy had approached Ash earlier and acted as full of himself as Gary always did and Ash used to. He recognised now that he had attitude problems in the past but felt that he had matured a lot since Mew and Mewtwo joined him, to the point where his attitude wasn't too bad.

He stood there, Pikachu and Lucario by his side as he listened to the commentator. "And now the start of the third battle on the water field. On the green side is newcomer Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town who has saved the flame of Moltres twice since his arrival on the Plateau." The crowd cheered loudly for the man who had defended the very symbol of the tournament. "And on the red side is a Pokémon League favourite, the Astounding Mandi." At his name the crowds went wild, cheering even more loudly than they had for Ash.

"This will be a three on three battle. The first trainer to run out of Pokémon will be disqualified." The referee announced. "Battle start."

"It's show time. Now Ash, watch me work my magic. Go Exeggutor!" Mandi announced, throwing the pokéball with several flourishes.

"I guess I'll show a little magic of my own then. I choose you, Krabby!" Ash cried out, raising his hand towards the field. As he did so a yellow aura of a similar colour to Pikachu's fur engulfed one of his pokéballs and moved it over the field before it opened to reveal his Krabby. You see, after learning that Ash could use both telepathy and telekinesis he had Mewtwo train him so he could use his telekinesis for simple tasks such as this. The crowd was in awe of his psychic skills and couldn't help but cheer at the display which made Mandi's excessive flourishes look like cheap theatrics. With the two Pokémon stood on platforms floating on the water the battle began.

"Mandi is starting with Exeggutor while Ash uses his Krabby." The commentator said enthusiastically.

"Exeggutor, psywave now." Mandi called and the multi-faced plant launched a few rings of psychic energy at Krabby.

Ash was faster though and gave his own commands. "Krabby, dive in and harden."

"Now, I've got you. Use psychic to create a whirlpool."

Krabby was pulled into the whirlpool and spun round it again and again before he managed to reach the edge of it and jumped at the plant once ash gave an order. "Alright Krabby, vicegrip." Krabby latched onto the leaves atop Exeggutor's heads and yanked it around for a few seconds causing quite some damage before jumping to another platform.

"Razor leaf, quickly." Mandi countered, hoping to do some damage before the crab landed another attack.

"Take it." Ash yelled and everyone was shocked that he would ask a water type to try and endure a grass type attack, especially such a weak looking water type.

"Hahahaha, how foolish." Mandi said as the leaves made contact but he soon stopped laughing when he saw them bouncing off harmlessly. "W-what?" he stuttered.

"I trained my Krabby to take attacks like that with ease; his shell is easily strong enough to stand up to a weak attack like that." Ash explained before he saw a white glow engulf Krabby. "It can't be… It is! Alright Kingler!" Ash shouted as the glow faded to show that Krabby had indeed evolved.

"Oh no. Exeggutor look out!"

"Kingler! Bubblebeam then crab hammer." Both attacks hit the large coconut Pokémon as it had nowhere to run and it was knocked out completely.

"Ko King!" Kingler announced as it sat atop its defeated enemy, snapping its claws at the crowds.

"Exeggutor is unable to battle." The referee called and Mandi recalled it.

"Ha, the kid's had some beginners luck. That's all it is, go Seadra!" Mandi sent out his next Pokémon.

"Sorry Kingler but I want you to return for now."

"King Ko-ko King." It said out loud as Ash heard its true voice in his head. _"Whatever you say Ash."_

"Let's see how your Seadra likes its evolved form. I choose you Kingdra!" He shouted for all to hear as he threw a second pokéball onto the field. After his Pokémon had been revealed the crowds went silent expectantly.

"Y-you have a K-Kingdra?" Mandi asked though Ash decided it wasn't worth replying as the field gave all the answer that was necessary. The two 'Dragon Pokémon' were in the water at opposite ends of the field with Ash's Kingdra looking much more majestic, elegant and powerful as well as being half Seadra's height taller than it.

"Seadra versus Kingdra. Begin" The referee announced.

Mandi recovered and quickly called out to his Pokémon. "Seadra, use agility to get in close then use hydro pump at full power."

Though to most people it looked like Seadra was disappearing and reappearing all over the field, Ash and his Pokémon were able to follow it's movements after their training. "Kingdra, use your own hydro pump but tone it down so you don't seriously injure that Seadra." Kingdra trumpeted a response before turning to look directly at the Seadra that had appeared beside her. Mandi's eyes widened as the two unleashed a blast of water at each other. When the two attacks met, Kingdra's tore through Seadra's and hit it dead on.

"Nooo! Seadra!" Mandi cried but to no avail as Seadra was seen belly up in the water.

"Seadra is unable to battle. Please choose your next Pokémon."

"Just how strong is that Kingdra?" He muttered before crying out once he had recalled his unconscious Seadra. "I won't lose to some twerp like you. Go Golbat!"

"In that case, Kingdra return. Tentacruel I choose you."

* * *

As Ash released his Tentacruel Misty went wild in the stands before settling down and staring with sparkling eyes. "Aren't they just gorgeous Brock?" She asked in all seriousness.

"Who, Tentacruel or Ash?" Brock teased, expecting a mallet to the head any second. Instead his jaw dropped as he heard her reply.

"Both." She said dreamily.

* * *

"Quickly Tentacruel, acid spray."

"What's that? Well whatever it is dodge it Golbat." With that said a barrage of globules of dark orange acid flew out of the depths of Tentacruel's body. Golbat was able to dodge most of them but there were too many and the last few struck it dead on. "Oh no, quickly use mega drain before it attacks again." He smiled at this thinking his Golbat's health would soon be recovered as the green tendrils of energy reached towards Tentacruel.

"For your information, acid spray is a move discovered in a foreign region and it weakens the target's defence against special attacks if it hits. But it looks like I really didn't need to do that because of my Tentacruel's ability, clear body. Clear body means that health draining attacks that would usually restore the user's health with the target's now do as much damage as health would have been recovered. Tentacruel, take that hit then bring it in close with wrap while it's weak."

"Oh no! Golbat stop the attack." But it was too late, the tendrils connected with Tentacruel who roared in pain. Soon though, Golbat fell towards the water, managing to pull up just before it hit. However when it looked up it found its opponent right in front of it and was unable to escape the tentacles that grabbed it securely to prevent escape.

"Finish it off with a water pulse Tentacruel." Ash's Pokémon fulfilled its trainers wish and the bat Pokémon was seen floating unconscious in the water moments later. With that the match was declared as Ash's victory.

"And newcomer Ash Ketchum scores a spectacular and flawless victory over the Astounding Mandi in his first match. It seems we can expect great things from this young trainer. I've just received word that one of our correspondents is approaching him for a few words from our victor." The commentator praised as the battle came to a close.

Ash turned around, surprised by the mention of a few words from him. The reporter was already right in his face and he had to take a few steps back to obtain a safe distance. "Good afternoon Ash, I was wondering if you could give us a few words after your victory?" She asked in a tone that told Ash he was going to whether he liked it or not.

"Well, to be honest I think the victory belongs to my Pokémon not to me. They were the ones that worked hard in our training and in our battle to earn us this victory so all credit goes to them. Besides, you never know who you'll be up against so I may come up against a trainer next round that's stronger than me and knocks me out of the tournament so it's best not to get too confident like I used to." With that said Ash walked off before any more questions could be asked.

"_Ha, not likely."_ Mewtwo said in Ash's head. _"At least not yet, though I wonder if anyone here will be strong enough to beat you now."_

* * *

The group were back at the house now and it was evening. They were sat around the table eating a dinner that Ash and Brock had prepared.

"Ash, you and your Pokémon were incredible today. Especially your Tentacruel, it was so dreamy." Misty said as her mind succumbed to daydreams once again.

"Tentacruel wasn't the only thing she thought was dreamy though." Brock said before being hit over the head by an extremely irate Misty.

"Ahahaha, I don't know what you're talking about Brock." Misty responded nervously, her cheeks bright red. She sincerely hoped Ash hadn't understood what Brock meant as he wasn't as dense as he used to be so who knew.

Unfortunately for her Ash had understood Brock's words and he'd remembered her emotions yesterday as well. Combined, these two things made him very nervous but he hid it by simply continuing to eat at a rapid pace. The disguise worked and Misty let out a sigh of relief while Brock just shook his head at Ash's denseness. Ash would have to talk to Brock about this later, maybe they could come up with some way to get Misty to leave him alone if they worked together. If not he could always try replicating Brock's methods with women as that seems to just anger Misty to no end.

After dinner Ash insisted that he should help Brock with the washing up instead of Misty which made that emotion of hers flare up again. He realised that his offer probably just made him look more like a gentleman to her or something similar. Once she had left to the other room Ash sighed in relief before he turned to Brock and started talking. "Okay Brock, I'm not as dense as I'm pretending to be. I can tell how Misty really feels better than you can because of my ability to sense emotions but I don't feel the same way. That's why I'm asking you to help me come up with a way to get her to leave me alone."

"Wait, so you did know what was going on and just pretended not to?"

"Yes, ever since we were outside the Pokémon Center yesterday when she said I'd changed. I'll just say a certain emotion of hers flared up at that point and I didn't know how to react as I can't reciprocate it."

"Wow Ash, that's pretty mature of you and those are some big words for you to be using too." Brock teased before getting serious again. "Hang on, how did you know what the emotion was, have you felt it for someone before?"

"No, but when me and Anabel were saying goodbye I felt the same emotion spike in her and shortly after that she decided to kiss me on the cheek before running off. I figured out from the kiss what the emotion was."

"I see… Well we better make sure Misty never finds out about that or she'll probably hunt Anabel down. By the way, as you said you haven't felt it yourself I assume the reason you can't reciprocate Misty's feelings isn't that you have feelings for Anabel?"

"You're right about both parts so no; I don't have any feelings for Anabel. The worst part is that I didn't have any chance to tell her that before she ran off so I think she's going to feel worse when I do eventually manage to tell her."

"I understand my young friend. Love can be a very painful thing and sometimes people have to learn that the hard way. My suggestion for dealing with Misty is to just continue acting oblivious, hopefully she'll eventually just give up and move on. Let's just hope these are teenage crushes that they can easily move on from."

"Well I may as well try the oblivious act as I can't think of anything better. Unfortunately though, the feelings I'm sensing are too deep to just be a crush. I just hope it doesn't hurt them too much."

That night Ash let Mewtwo and Mew out of their pokéballs again, he had done the same thing the night before but hadn't really talked to them, they had all just gone straight to sleep. _"Well guys we won our first match with a clean sweep, although Tentacruel was pretty tired by the end and I think Kingler would have been as well if he hadn't evolved in the battle. Not to put them down, they did brilliantly, but we got a bit lucky at times so we better not go thinking this will be easy."_

"_Aww, come on Ash stop being such a downer! Everyone did great and it was because of you that they were able to."_ Mew said, playfully sticking out her tongue at him. The other Pokémon laughed at her treatment of Ash before Mewtwo voiced his own opinion.

"_Mew is right though Ash. Kingler wouldn't have been able to evolve or beat that Exeggutor without your training and Kingdra wouldn't have been able to wipe out that Seadra so easily either. As for the Golbat, that was an unusually strong Golbat so it's no wonder Tentacruel was tired at the end, most Pokémon would have been. Your refusal to become overconfident is admirable but you should not be afraid to have some confidence."_

"_Yeah, what Mewtwo said Ash."_ Added Pikachu. _"I mean, when have you ever let a strong Pokémon stop you? If our opponent is strong enough to tire us out then that just means we need to train harder and get stronger so it doesn't tire us out next time!"_

"_That's right, we are Pokémon and we know our strength. We would never have agreed to come here if we didn't think we were capable of winning it."_ Lucario finished in a gruff tone. They hoped what they had said would be enough to snap him out of this state he was in as they couldn't sense anything from him.

"_Thanks guys, I needed that. We're here to win and we won't accept anything less!"_ Ash replied with a grin on his face. With that the five of them settled down for the night.

* * *

It was eleven o' clock the next morning and Ash was stood in the green trainer's podium on the rock field. His opponent, Ewan Turner, was only a year or so older than Ash and seemed like a fairly nice guy unlike Mandi so Ash was looking forward to a good battle.

"This will be a three on three battle. When all of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle that trainer will be disqualified. Trainers, please call out your Pokémon." The referee explained simply.

"Let's do this Sandslash!" Ewan yelled throwing out a pokéball.

"In that case I choose you, Sandslash." Ash said as he called out his own. When the two appeared on the field you could see that Ash's was ever so slightly bigger and had a shinier coat, indicating its better health. "That's a pretty strong Sandslash you've got there Ewan but not as strong as mine."

"We'll see about that. Start off with a sandstorm then use it to get in close and use fury swipes." Ewan called to his Pokémon.

* * *

"Hmm… A battle of the Sandslash. It looks like Ash has this one in the bag so long as he doesn't get overconfident as his is clearly stronger and healthier and his strategy has improved more than enough." Brock commented up in the stands.

"You might be right Brock, with the new strategies Ash has been coming up with and his Pokémon's raw power this should be an easy win." Misty replied.

* * *

"Sandslash, dodge that fury swipes attack and hit it with slash." Ash ordered his Pokémon as the battle got going.

When Sandslash dodged just as it was told to, Ewan was confused. "What, but my Sandslash's ability makes it harder to find in a sandstorms so how did yours dodge it?"

"Simple, my Sandslash has the same ability. Now Sandslash, attack!" He yelled the last sentence to make sure Sandslash heard; he didn't want to use mental commands just yet. The attack hit and Ewan's Pokémon was forced to the ground by it. "Again." But before the next attack could hit Ewan gave a panicked command that was followed immediately.

"Dig!"

"In that case, finish this with earthquake buddy." Ash changed tactics without batting an eyelid and Sandslash quickly jumped into the air before coming down hard on the ground making it shake. Soon the opposing Sandslash resurfaced and took a few unsteady steps before fainting.

"Ewan's Sandslash is unable to battle. Please select your next Pokémon." The referee made the victory official.

"Slash Sandslash Slash!" Ash's Sandslash called out which he translated as _"Let's show these people what else I can do!"_

"Alright then Sandslash you're staying in." Ash told him as Ewan chose his next Pokémon.

"Let's do this, Onix."

"We'll take the lead this time Sandslash. Dig then brick break." Sandslash dove underground and Ewan looked around desperately, panicking again.

"Be careful Onix, it could come up anywhere." Just as Ewan said this Sandslash popped up behind Onix, she then proceeded to smash it over the head with a brick break. Onix groaned loudly in pain before it acted upon its trainer's next orders. "Onix, use bind." It snaked its tail around Sandslash and gripped tightly. "Now hit it with Slam." The rock snake Pokémon threw the mouse Pokémon to the floor before dropping its tail on it. When it rose up again Sandslash managed to stagger back up on to her feet but was barely standing so Ash new it was nearly over.

'_That brick break did a lot of damage though so one good hit should finish it off.'_ He made his decision. "Sandslash, finish this with hyper beam."

"Dragonbreath Onix." Both Pokémon launched their attacks which met in the middle of the field. When they met there was an enormous explosion which sent Sandslash flying and threw Onix back a few feet. After the smoke cloud cleared both Pokémon were seen to be unconscious.

"Would you look at that folks, it's a double knockout here on the rock field with Ash's Sandslash losing to Onix after taking down Ewan's own Sandslash and the Onix. What will these trainers show us next?"

"Both trainers please call out your next Pokémon." The referee requested.

"Go Nidorino." Ewan almost screamed.

Ash released his next Pokémon far more calmly. "I choose you, Rhydon."

* * *

Up in the stands Brock and Misty were talking once again. "Wow, Sandslash really showed his stuff out there. I can't believe he manage to take down both those Pokémon." Brock stated.

"I know, and know it turns out he evolved his Rhyhorn as well as his Seadra. What next?"

"Who knows Misty, who knows…"

* * *

"Nidorino, start thing off with a horn attack."

"Alright Rhydon, counter that with your own horn attack then hit it with a stone edge before it can get away." Nidorino got in close and dove at Rhydon with its horn glowing but just as it was about to hit, Rhydon blocked the attack with its own and forced Nidorino to the ground. Stones began appearing around Rhydon's body before they flew towards Nidorino. The attack sent the poison pin Pokémon flying into a boulder which crumbled around it creating a small dust cloud. Before the dust could clear and Ash could see what was happening Ewan called out his next move.

"Quickly, ice beam."

Rhydon roared in pain as his feet and legs were frozen to the ground. "Come on Rhydon I know you can break out of that ice!" Rhydon tried desperately to break free and the ice began to fracture.

"Finish it off with brick break before it can get free." Ewan cried hoping that he might just be able to scrape through and win this now. The pink Pokémon charged towards its opponent but before it took more than a few steps Rhydon broke free.

"Now Rhydon, use double edge." Rhydon charged at Nidorino with his body glowing gold, he managed to evade Nidorino's brick break and hit head on with the double edge sending Nidorino into a boulder once more. This time though, Nidorino would stay down.

"Nidorino is unable to battle and so the winner is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town." The referee announced to the crowds who roared in approval. Ash recalled Rhydon, who was also roaring by this point, with a word of thanks before leaving straight for the Pokémon Center.

* * *

In the Pokémon Center Ash was talking to his friends. "So Ash, how does it feel to get victory number two?" Brock asked.

"It feels great but I can't let it go to my head or I'll just get overconfident like I used to. Both me and my Pokémon know that."

"Wow Ash, you're so much more mature than you used to be." Misty said while blushing slightly.

'_Oh no, here we go again.'_ Ash thought as he felt her emotions shoot up once again.

* * *

It was now late evening of the same day and Ash was stood in the red trainer's podium waiting to do battle with his opponent Pete Pebbleman. Pikachu and Lucario were with him and all were ready to win again. After the referee announced the rules the two trainers called out their Pokémon.

"Go Jynx" Pete called.

"I choose you, Dewgong" Ash added.

"I've got just the move for that Dewgong of yours. Jynx, use brick break."

"Hit it with signal beam before it can get in close then follow it up with a blizzard." The sea lion Pokémon launched a multi-coloured beam from the tip of its horn which struck its opponent dead centre in the chest sending it flying back. As Jynx struggled back to its feet Dewgong summoned an incredibly cold wind which made even the crowds shiver slightly. As it struck, the human shape Pokémon cried out in pain but stood its ground. It was fortunate for Pete that both the move and its target were ice type otherwise his Pokémon may well have been unconscious.

"Jynx, body slam." The Pokémon jumped high into the air before dropping down on Dewgong. "Now hit it with brick break" Its hand glowed white before it crashed down on Dewgong's head, sending it crashing back into a boulder of ice.

"Dewgong, use aqua ring to recover then hit it with another signal beam." Several rings of crystal clear water surrounded Dewgong before they were absorbed into her body healing some of her wounds. She then fired the multi-coloured beam at Jynx once again.

"Protect! After that hit it with energy ball." A green sphere surrounded Jynx just in time to deflect the approaching attack which created a crater in the ice instead. Pete shivered at the power of his enemy's attacks.

"Dodge and counter with hyper beam." Dewgong dived to the side just in time to avoid the grass type attack before it charged an orange orb in its mouth and fired.

"Jynx, look out!" It was too late; the attack hit Jynx straight in the face sending it flying back into the arena wall. It was completely unconscious and declared unable to battle. The crowd was then surprised as both trainers recalled their Pokémon and released another. "Go Cloyster!"

"_You did well Dewgong, thank you. Now get some rest."_ Ash told the ice and water type telepathically before calling out loud. "I choose you, Golduck."

* * *

"Ash made a good choice, after launching that hyper beam Dewgong would have been left wide open and she's probably tired out from the battle anyway. I'm kind of confused why everybody found his switch so surprising really." Brock stated.

"I know… But she was just so beautiful." Was Misty's answer as Brock sighed, wondering if she would ever change. "I wonder if he'll use another water type though, after all it is an ice field."

"Well it would make sense but I wouldn't put it past Ash to try something else, after all he hasn't really displayed any specific strategy so far." Brock replied before Misty squealed in delight at Ash's second Pokémon. _'I guess she won't change after all.'_

* * *

"Cloyster, start off with toxic spikes then hit that Golduck with your spike cannon." Cloyster fired a purple sphere into the air and it split into spikes which fell on the field before it closed its shell and fired several spikes directly at Golduck.

"Golduck, dodge that spike cannon. I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do about those toxic spikes for now." Ash called out as the poison began to take effect on Golduck. She followed Ash's orders though and dodged the incoming attack. "Use psychic to hold Cloyster still then close in and use rock smash." Cloyster was suddenly surrounded by a blue glow that stopped it moving from its place meaning it would take the next attack directly.

"Cloyster try to use withdraw." Cloyster snapped its shell shut; fortunately Golduck had only prevented it from moving outwards. The rock smash struck but didn't do a lot of damage due to the protection withdraw provided.

"Keep using rock smash Golduck. Cloyster is getting tired from it and I know you can outlast it." Ash encouraged. Golduck complied, repeatedly striking Cloyster with rock smash in the same spot.

"Oh no." But there was nothing Pete could do as his Cloyster suffered from each hit until eventually its shell cracked slightly and opened to reveal an unconscious Cloyster.

"Cloyster return. Now go, Arcanine."

"An Arcanine on this field? I guess he's got some sort of plan so I better not let my guard down. Let's keep going Golduck. Start things off with a water pulse." Golduck launched an orb of water at the large canine but it wasn't to be.

"Arcanine, use flamethrower to stop that water pulse then hit it with Dragonbreath and thunder fang" Arcanine did just that and before anyone knew it Golduck was flat on her back and unable to battle.

"Thanks buddy." Ash said recalling the Pokémon and choosing his next. "I choose you, Vaporeon!" As Vaporeon appeared on the field, the poison spikes took effect and began spreading the damaging substance throughout her body.

"Arcanine, keep using fire blast until you hit." Once again Arcanine did just that, several fiery kanji shapes now making their way towards Vaporeon.

"Vaporeon use quick attack to dodge." Vaporeon also complied with its trainers commands and began dodging the attacks with ease as they hit all over the ice but never made contact with it. Then Ash noticed something, they were melting the ice and soon the only ice left would be that which Arcanine was stood on.

"Ha, I've got you know. There's nowhere left for you to run. Hit it with overheat Arcanine, full power." A pillar of flame leapt towards Vaporeon who was now stood on a small ice platform in the middle of a battlefield full of water.

"Is this it for Ketchum's Vaporeon? It seems like there's nowhere to go now." The commentator wondered to the crowds.

"No, it's not. You're all forgetting something incredibly simple." He laughed which no one had been expecting. "Into the water Vaporeon." Pete and almost the entire crowd face faulted at their own stupidity, the water was in fact even better for Vaporeon than the ice. "Hide yourself in the water then hit it with a barrage of water guns."

Vaporeon, who was already in the water, seemed to dissolve before suddenly jumping up all over the place and hitting Arcanine every time. It was Arcanine who was trapped on the ice now as its type stopped it from entering the water. Pete's final Pokémon had taken a lot of damage now and Ash decided to finish it. "End this with surf." Pete just sighed and lowered his head, knowing he could no longer win. The wave Vaporeon had produced engulfed Arcanine before washing away to show it unconscious.

"This round and the match go to Vaporeon and Ash" The referee finalised before Vaporeon jumped out of the water to Ash's side and began rubbing against his legs.

"Vay Vay." Vaporeon said which Ash heard in his own language. _"Yay, we did it."_

The crowd watched as the boy squatted down to the same height as his Vaporeon which was now sparkling in the sunlight. He cuddled and spoke to her briefly, earning several 'Awww's from the crowd, before he recalled her and left to treat his Pokémon. "Yeah, we did. Great work girl, I'm proud of you."

* * *

"Well Ash, brilliant job once again." Brock said to Ash that evening as they were eating.

"Of course it was brilliant; he used water Pokémon after all." Misty said.

"You would have thought he was brilliant even without the water Pokémon." Brock mumbled but unfortunately Misty heard and her mallet struck once again. "Anyway Ash," Brock added as he recovered. "According to the schedule your next match is tomorrow afternoon against some girl called Jeanette Fisher. I thought you might be interested to know that Gary's battle time tomorrow ends just a little while before yours begins so maybe we should go watch it."

"That sounds like a plan to me Brock." Ash replied. "What do you think Misty?"

"Yeah, sure." She replied, obviously not having listened to a word that had been said as she was off in water Pokémon dreamland again.

* * *

The next day Ash, Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Lucario and Togepi were all sat in the stands of the rock field watching Gary's match. Both trainers were down to their last Pokémon, Gary his Nidoking and Melissa, his opponent, her Golem. "Nidoking, horn attack!" Gary yelled and his Nidoking charged horn first at the Golem but was stopped when Golem grabbed its horn and forced it aside.

"Golem, seismic toss." Melissa called out and Golem jumped high into the air before throwing Nidoking back down to earth, knocking it out.

"This battle goes to Melissa." The referee announced before the commentator added his own thoughts via the loudspeakers.

"She's done it. After a gruelling battle Melissa has won with a last minute upset over Gary Oak for her fourth Pokémon League victory." With this Gary collapsed to his knees, unable to believe he had lost this early in the tournament.

"I can't believe it…" Ash said.

"The competition here is really tough Ash." Misty told him, not too surprised that Gary had lost.

"Priii!" Togepi added.

"Haha, I guess your right there Togepi. You sure are smart for such a young Pokémon." Ash replied to the young one.

"What did Togepi say Ash?" Misty inquired, wishing she were able to understand Pokémon herself.

"Togepi said that it just means that we prove we're even tougher by beating these trainers. Well, words to that effect anyway."

"Well Togepi is right then and I know you're the toughest one here Ash so go beat them all."

"Alright, well I'm gonna go talk to Gary real quick. I get the feeling he plans to leave now but I want him to see me win this and the Pokémon I win it with." Ash told the others before running off to find Gary.

Ash caught up with Gary just as he reached his car in which his cheerleaders were crying. "Gary!" He shouted, gaining his rivals attention.

"Oh, hey Ashy boy. That trainer was lucky that I got distracted by all the girls cheering for me." Gary said as Ash reached his side.

"Sure Gary, whatever you say. But you know, there's no harm in admitting you lost fair and square. It just shows that you've got the maturity to look forwards instead of back and figure out how to improve so it doesn't happen again." As Ash mentioned losing the girls in the car broke down even further. "But that's not why I'm here. I came to ask you to stay and watch the rest of the battles, mine especially. I have some 'trump cards' that I know can help me win this whole tournament so I guarantee you this. If you stay, my semi-final match and the final round will be some of the most interesting battles you've ever seen."

Brock then arrived and added something of his own. "Ash is right Gary. I believe that he can make it that far not just because he is my friend but because over the last three months his training skills have increased exponentially and he does have two Pokémon that you will not be able to believe he has until you see them so there's no point telling you what they are. Wait around and he won't disappoint."

"Hey Ash, you better hurry up! Your fourth match is starting on the grass field any minute now." Misty suddenly yelled from the path to the grass field. He looked at his watch and realised she was right.

"Alright Ashy-boy, you've convinced me to stay but you better deliver on that promise you made."

"Don't worry, I will." With that, Ash darted off to the grass field for his final qualifying match.

* * *

Several minutes later and Ash walked onto the grass field to take his place in the green podium. As he and his two partners rose above the battlefield slightly his opponent made her entrance. A red carpet rolled out towards her podium as she walked out of her own entrance, petals floating around her. There was a sudden blast of noise as a cheering squad that dwarfed Gary's went wild.

"I am honoured." She stated making Ash wonder why she was honoured. He stared at them all as they continued their ridiculous antics before shaking his head and waiting for the battle to begin. When it did they released their Pokémon simultaneously. "My Pokémon should create quite a buzz. Beedrill go!"

"Scyther, I choose you."

As the two Pokémon materialised on the field the commentator started doing his job. "Well folks, it looks like the first round of this match is going to be a battle of the bug types."

"Beedrill, twineedle attack now."

"Scyther, use swords dance before it can reach you then parry all their attacks with fury cutter." As the poison bee Pokémon charged towards it, readying its stinger like arms Scyther's arms glowed a bluish purple and it spun rapidly before dropping into a defensive stance with his attack power increased. Beedrill reached its target and began stabbing at it but Scyther simply pushed every attack to the side. "Jump back and use aerial ace." Scyther back flipped away from Beedrill before flying up into the air and coming back down to crash into Beedrill. The black and yellow Pokémon was forced to the floor and struggled to get back up. "Finish this with slash." It was over almost as soon as Ash finished talking.

"This one won't be so easy. Go Scyther!" Jeanette shouted after recalling Beedrill.

"And Jeanette brings out her own Scyther. How will Ketchum respond, we've seen him fight fire with fire before in this tournament but will he do it again?" The commentator announced.

"Scyther return. You were great but I want to give the others a chance to show off too." Ash said, the Pokémon disappearing in a flash of light. "I choose you, Ivysaur." Out came what had originally been the clone of Ash's Bulbasaur and it was ready to rumble.

"Scyther, use your slash attack now!"

"Use sunny day then hit it with a full power solar beam to finish this here and now." Before Scyther could get close a white beam shot from Ivysaur's bulb straight at the sun making it shine brighter than ever. With that done Ivysaur lowered the front of his body and aimed at the incoming Scyther, just as the bug was about to strike it was hit by an intense blast of solar energy which knocked it out immediately.

"But… how?" Jeanette wondered at how Ivysaur had charged the attack so quickly.

"The sunny day. With the sunlight so strong the attack doesn't take all that time to charge so you can fire it much quicker." Ash explained and she nodded at his explanation.

* * *

"Wow, I didn't know Ash could come up with strategies like that. I guess it also helps that his Ivysaur is obviously really strong." Brock commented, amazed by his friends abilities.

"Yeah. Come on Ash! Just beat this Pokémon and you win the match!" Misty cheered before speaking more to herself than anyone in particular. "Jeanette will save her strongest for last but whatever it is you can beat her."

"Toge Toge" The small spike ball Pokémon in her lap joined the cheering.

"I'm sure Ash can beat any Pokémon she picks with these new skills of his." Brock added.

Their jaws dropped when she released her next Pokémon, it was a Bellsprout.

"Huh?" Misty asked.

"Wow. That must be some Bellsprout for her to save it till now."

A voice suddenly spoke up beside them. "Sorry we're so late." The three looked round to see Delia and Professor Oak stood in front of them.

"Mrs Ketchum, Professor Oak, what are you doing here?" Misty inquired.

The Professor answered for the two of them. "We came to cheer Ash to victory."

"Umm… Did you know that your grandson lost?" Brock asked, hoping Oak wasn't too upset about it.

"Yes I know. It'll do Gary good to see every road has a few bumps along the way. Besides, I see he decided to stay behind and watch some of the other matches."

"That was Ash's handiwork Professor. He convinced him to stay with a promise that the semi-finals and finals would be battles to remember, I'm sure you can figure out why." Brock explained.

Oak was surprised. "Ash managed to talk Gary out of leaving? Well that's a new one but I guess the world is full of surprises. And yes, I can figure out why. I just can't wait to see them in battle."

"Win this one for your mother honey." Delia called down to him and Oak joined her in their so called cheering.

"Now that Gary's out of the competition all the folks in Pallet Town are counting on you!"

"They're supposed to be cheering Ash on but all they're doing is putting more pressure on him." Misty whispered to Brock.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Ash can take the pressure." Brock encouraged.

Further back in the stands Gary was thinking. _'Ash is doing great; he literally wiped out two of her Pokémon without even trying. I wonder if he'd be able to beat me now. Who am I kidding, of course he couldn't. But seriously, what's with that girl using a Bellsprout? Is she underestimating Ash or does she have some trick up her sleeve?'_

* * *

"Well Ivysaur, take a break for now and I'll see you later." Ash said recalling the seed Pokémon. "I choose you, Muk!"

"Bellsprout, start things off with razor leaf!" The leaves flew at Muk before being caught in its body and thrown off. "Alright, that didn't work so let's try getting in close and using slam." Bellsprout approached Muk as quickly as it could. When it arrived it grabbed Muk's hand and flipped it over itself. But when Muk landed it just used the energy to flatten itself out before returning to its normal pose.

"Muk, use Body Slam." Muk quickly stretched out and dropped over the Bellsprout, smothering it completely. It attempted to kick Muk off it but the attacks were useless against the sludge Pokémon and they soon slowed to a stop. Muk raised itself off its now unconscious enemy and the crowd cheered wildly for Ash and his Pokémon. Ash ran over to Muk to congratulate him but was met with a hug that left him on the floor beneath it. "Now I know how that Bellsprout felt." Ash laughed before convincing Muk to get off him so they could leave.

* * *

**So yeah, that's the start of the League, I know there are still a couple of big similarities to Sabor's story and there will be in the next chapter or two as well but after that I think it should be pretty different.**

By the way, in case you didn't notice I have no idea why Jeanette says that she is honoured, I was just wondering if anybody does or whether you think it is just some weird thing of hers.

I know I've said before that if people have any ideas they want to go in my story then let me know so don't forget it but the same goes for Pokémon. So if there are any species you really like then let me know and I'll think about giving him one but it probably won't appear until its home region or after. Main exceptions would be things that might evolve from a Pokémon from a region he's already been through such as the late eeveelutions. I know Glaceon and Leafeon are supposed to evolve only by being around the Moss Rock and Ice Rock or whatever they are called which have only appeared in Sinnoh and Unova but I'm making adventures of my own so who says I can't have Ash find one before then. Oh and I'm also looking for two other things, the first is names for my own islands in the Orange Islands where some of Ash's adventures will take place, I won't be naming all of them but it would be nice to have some named by readers and get you more involved a bit.

**The second thing is to do with the fact that I intend to give Ash a rival in Hoenn if/once I get there (I do very much hope to but it will of course take some time), I feel that both Gary and Paul were rivals with a purpose. Gary was about overcoming long-standing pointless differences to become friends and Paul was about showing that pure power is not the way to make your Pokémon strong. I want something similar for his Hoenn rival, I will want something for Trip too once we get there but that's a long way off yet so I will sort it out nearer the time. So if you have any ideas for the purpose of the Hoenn rival please let me know.**

Thanks for reading, please leave your opinions as they mean a lot to me and often help me think of ways to take the story in the future.


	5. New Friend and Rival, Going to the Final

**Author's Note**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Yahda Yahda Yahda... I can really see why people get so bored with these things now I'm writing my own fiction.**

**Well I don't really think there's a awful lot to say this time other than thanks for all the compliments and suggestions. I intend to make good use of them and hope to keep satisfying you.**

**For those of you wondering how soon Cynthia will be making an appearance, she will make a very brief appearance at the end of the chapter I am about to write and be introduced fully in the one after that so it shouldn't be too long till she's written in and not much longer after that till she appears. Especially as it took me only two days to write my last chapter, admittedly I haven't fully edited that one or the previous one yet but that doesn't take too long.**

**So yeah, usual speech types in use:  
"Normal Speech"  
_"Telepathic Speech"  
'Private Thoughts'  
_'Quoting Someone/Something'**

* * *

**Chapter 5 – New Friend and Rival, I'm Going All The Way to the Final.**

It was after Ash's final match in the qualifying rounds and he, Brock, Misty, Pikachu, Lucario and Togepi were on their way down the road to the trainer's village and their lodge. They had just finished discussing how well Ash had done in his match and Misty now mentioned something the other two could completely agree with. "Hey, I'm really hungry."

"We should all go out for a big meal to celebrate Ash's big victory." Brock suggested.

"Well I'd say to save the celebrations for when I win the whole league but I'm always up for food and dinner is on me 'cause everybody in the Pokémon league eats for free." Ash pointed out; continuing to astound the others with his newfound maturity, though it sounded like his appetite was as big as ever.

"Toge Toge" Togepi added from Misty's arms, as usual Ash translated it for himself. _"Yay, food!"_

"Hi Ash."

"Hello." Ash looked up to see the source of the voices he easily recognised to see his mother and Samuel Oak stood outside their lodge.

"Hi mom, hi Professor Oak." Ash called out to the two as he jogged the last few feet to them.

"I was quite impressed with the way you battled out there Ash." Oak told him before Delia added her own comment.

"I'm so proud of you. You have to keep your strength up while you compete so I'm making your favourite meal for you."

"You are! But where are you going to cook all of that food around here, there are five of us now so our kitchen doesn't have enough space in the oven for that." Ash replied excitedly.

With a small giggle and a smile she gave her response. "Leave that to me."

* * *

The group were now sat at a restaurant on the top floor of a multi-storey building, Delia borrowing their kitchen to cook the meal. The chefs watched in awe as she whizzed around the kitchen seemingly doing three things at once.

"Our customers do not come here to cook." The head chef said in a confused tone.

"Well, maybe they should try it." She responded, cheerful as ever. "Ash, dinner is almost ready!" Soon they were all sat around the table with several dishes of incredible food in front of them. "Well, how does it look?"

"It looks great!" The three teens cheered in unison while the Pokémon added their own gleeful opinions.

"These croquettes are excellent." Brock complimented.

"No wonder the chef asked for the recipe." Misty told her.

"These are so good. Nobody cooks like you do." Ash said to his mother.

"Well, maybe I should give you the recipe too Ash so you can cook it occasionally when you stop somewhere with enough space to cook it all. Don't forget to use your napkin honey."

"That's a great idea mom; it would be awesome if we could have food this good once in a while. Not that yours isn't incredible Brock."

"That's okay Ash, after all it is true. I don't suppose I could get a copy as well?"

"Why of course you can dear." Delia told him, happy that everyone enjoyed her food so much.

"You know, if you win your next battle you'll be allowed to use up to six Pokémon per match." Samuel explained to him. "Have you decided which Pokémon you'll choose?"

"Hmmm. Well I don't want to rush my choice but I've got a strong trio and they should be able to go against just about any team that isn't specialised and even most teams that are."

"Well Ash that's good to hear. I like your attitude of not setting anything in stone until you know more about your opponent."

"That's just common sense which I may not have had in the past but I do now, to some degree anyway." Ash gave his own explanation which everybody, including him, laughed at.

* * *

After dinner they had just got into the lift to travel back down to the entrance when they were stopped by a voice. "Hold the door please, I'm going downstairs too."

"Sure." Oak told the boy that was the source of the voice. They all looked at him and noticed that he dressed in a very similar fashion to Ash, only his clothes were a different colour and he had brown hair and eyes. Ash also sensed that their emotions were very similar as well so he knew he could get on well with this boy. The boy got into the elevator and they set off before he noticed Pikachu.

"Ah, a Pikachu. Whose is it?" He inquired.

"Mine." Ash told him. "Pikachu belongs to me."

"You're really lucky."

"Yeah, thanks. That Pikachu and my Lucario are my two best pals so I know I can always count on them." After Ash had said this he noticed the boy reaching towards Pikachu to stroke him and thought about telling him to be careful. He realised though that as this boy had similar emotions to himself and Pokémon were quite perceptive of emotions, Pikachu probably noticed it too. That was also before considering that Pikachu had a lot more self-control these days and the boy was reaching for Pikachu just like Ash would.

Ash briefly wondered if this boy had a Pikachu of his own due to the ease with which he approached Pikachu but that question was soon answered. The boy began rubbing Pikachu's cheeks which earned him a happy "Chaaaa." confirming for Ash that he was a Pikachu trainer; he smiled at Pikachu's comfort.

"Looks like you're rubbing Pikachu the right way." Misty told him after she and Brock recovered from the shock of someone not being shocked by Pikachu when they touched him.

"I can see you did a really great job raising this Pikachu, it's no wonder it's one of your best friends."

"Thanks." Ash told him. "But I can tell that the Pikachu you raised must be pretty close to you too."

"How did you know I had a Pikachu?"

"Simple, no one but a Pikachu trainer knows how to approach a Pikachu like that and make it work. Although I might suggest a slightly different way to stroke him." With that he plucked Pikachu off the floor and began massaging his cheeks just as Suzy had once taught him to. This made Pikachu even happier than before and he relaxed to the point that he nearly fell out of Ash's hands while letting a contented "Chaaaaaaaaaaaa." escape his mouth.

"Wow, where did you learn that?" The boy asked.

"A top breeder taught me when we met her at Scissor Street though I think she may have left there now. Maybe we should meet up some time and I can pass it on to you." Ash suggested.

"That would be great." He said before they were all stunned by the lift stopping and the lights going out.

"The power must have gone out." Brock said. Professor Oak suggested trying the emergency call button but they got no response from that.

"I guess no one can hear us. Hey Pikachu, you know what to do right?" Ash said looking at his small yellow companion. The Pikachu nodded before jumping down and going over to the maintenance panel. He opened it up by using his tail as a lever and sorted through the wiring till he found the power cables. He then gnawed through them and used his thundershock to power the lift.

"Wow, nice work Ash. I didn't know Pikachu could do that." Misty complimented.

"Well I built a lift to move things around when we were training in isolation and electric types were the only way I knew how to power it as I didn't want to risk trying to connect it to the mains."

"You built your own lift!?" Everyone that knew Ash exclaimed.

"Well that is what I just said isn't it?"

"I guess." They replied, still astonished that Ash was capable of putting something so complex together.

It was then that the boy spoke up again. "It's no surprise that they're surprised, to build a lift all of your own is a pretty impressive feat. I have to say though, I was just wondering myself if using Pikachu would work and I guess you answered my question."

"Oh, well I guess I should thank you 'cause that sounded like a compliment to me and they do say great minds think alike as well you know. But that lift was probably one of the more basic things I built really, I had to do some pretty major reworks for the place I was staying at to be habitable but it was a lot of fun to do it working alongside all my Pokémon." Ash replied with a smile. "By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Ritchie, nice to meet you." He told them holding out his hand for a shake.

Ash accepted. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Ash and these are my friends Pikachu and Lucario as well as Misty and Brock, best not forget Togepi either or she'll get in a huff with me." He pointed at everyone in turn and added a chuckle when he mentioned Togepi. "This is Professor Oak who looks after all my Pokémon for me and performs research into their interactions with others; some of it is quite famous actually. Last but certainly not least, this is my mother." He finished their introductions just as they arrived at the lobby.

"Well it was nice to meet you all but I gotta go so see ya." Ritchie told them before running off somewhere.

"Well he seemed like a nice young fellow." Professor Oak said before they heard an announcement over a loud speaker.

"Attention please. May I have your attention please? This is an emergency announcement for all those in the Pokémon league competition. This is not a mere test. All trainers must bring their pokéballs to the Pokémon Pavilion for official inspection immediately."

"I wonder why they want to inspect pokéballs?" Misty questioned.

"They don't, those voices belong to Team Rocket so I better get there fast and stop them." Ash told the others before dashing off to find the troublesome trio. He soon arrived at his destination and saw a crowd of people who had just handed over their Pokémon.

Ritchie had just passed his pokéballs to the disguised Team Rocket when Ash came up next to him and shouted out the truth for all to hear. "Alright Team Rocket, give up the disguise and return all those Pokémon to their rightful owners!" The crowds looked over in shock at what they had just heard.

"Oh no, it's the twerp. Let's get out of here before we have another cat**-**astrophe like last time." Meowth said and the other two agreed. They dived into the seats at the front of the van they were using and started driving off which Ritchie giving chase.

"Hey, come back with my Pokémon!" He yelled before Ash stopped him. "What are you doing, let go of me."

"Don't worry, I'll get them all back right now. Charizard, I choose you!" As the large, red reptile materialised he snapped his wings out causing an air current that sent several people staggering back away from it. "Charizard, bring that van back here." Ash ordered and Charizard roared before taking off and quickly catching up to the vehicle. It grabbed the van with its hands and feet and lifted it into the air, drawing several gasps from the onlookers.

Charizard then brought the van back towards Ash and dropped it just in front of him, the tyres popping when it landed. Ash unlocked the back doors of the van with his psychic powers and took the bag of pokéballs out of it before having Charizard finish them off. "Charizard, get rid of them with your flamethrower." A jet of flames leapt from the lizard's mouth and engulfed the van before the petrol caught and exploded sending Team Rocket flying. Strangely though, their most common line was slightly different this time.

"It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off one last time!" The three yelled in unison.

Ash then began helping in the process of returning all the pokéballs to their rightful owners. Soon everyone had their pokéballs back and Ash and Ritchie went their separate ways.

* * *

It was the next morning and Ash was about to find out who he would be fighting in the next round. Brock and Misty had come with him to the reception where he met Ritchie who had already been given a battle but no opponent. All he had to do was fish a Magikarp out of a small tank and the letters and numbers on its side would tell him who he was fighting. He used a small fishing rod and quickly hooked something. When he pulled it up out of the water it was a Magikarp with 'A-3' painted on its side.

"'A-3' That means your next opponent is going to be…" She pointed to a screen which pulled Ash's picture back and put it next to another, his opponent in the next round was Ritchie. Everyone froze in shock at this development but soon the two trainers soon overcame it and walked up to each other.

"Well Ash, as we're friends let's promise to make this battle the best that we've ever had."

"Deal, see you on the battlefield then."

That afternoon Ash looked at Ritchie's page on the official Pokémon league database. What he found surprised him quite a bit, Ritchie had used only 3 Pokémon throughout the league and they were quite similar to those he used himself, a Pikachu which Ash already knew he had, a Butterfree just as Ash had until he released him during the Butterfree mating season and finally a Charmander just like Ash's before it evolved. This should be a very interesting battle but the team he already had in mind would be perfect for the job.

* * *

It was the following day and Ash was in his place in the Indigo Stadium with Ritchie opposite him. They were ready to have a spectacular battle and the crowds were waiting expectantly for it.

"Are you ready for your biggest battle ever?" Ritchie shouted across the field.

"I'm ready when you are."

"Go Happy!" Out came Ritchie's Butterfree as he called out its name.

"So you name your Pokémon huh? I can understand why you would want to but we don't need them here. I choose you Venusaur."

"Start this off with silver wind Happy!"

"Take the attack Venusaur and then hit it with vine whip." Ritchie's Butterfree flapped its wings several times before sending several silvery crescents straight at Venusaur who made no move to dodge them. The attack hit and dealt a lot of damage, Venusaur being pushed back a few feet before six vines shot out of the base of his flower and started battering the butterfly Pokémon who was soon down for the count.

"Happy return. Zippo go!" Ritchie yelled hoping to use the type advantage to his favour and finish off Ash's powerful Venusaur but Ash wasn't going to let that happen.

"Come on back Venusaur!" Ash called out to the clone before calling out another. "I choose you Charizard!"

* * *

"Is it just me or have both of Ketchum's Pokémon so far this match had a strange skin pattern? Could there be some sort of connection between them?" The commentator speculated.

"I see Ash's team now." Brock said. "He's planning to use the clones of the three fully evolved starter Pokémon. It must be what he meant yesterday when he said this team could take on most set ups because together they're strong against most types. Though I have to wonder why he didn't use Blastoise now if that's the case."

"Yeah, especially as the last Pokémon we know Ritchie is likely to use is a Pikachu which is strong against water types like Blastoise. Maybe he thought it would give Ritchie a chance against one of his Pokémon that way?" Misty added.

"Well that really isn't like Ash, even if he is fighting a friend. Maybe he wants to use it to show everyone their full strength. You know, take a well-known weakness and win despite having that. But if that is what he's doing it's a risky move, after all Ash did say that Ritchie's Pikachu must be strong when we first met him." Brock countered, adding his own theory.

"Well I'm sure we'll find out soon." Misty told him.

* * *

"Stay in Zippo, evolution isn't everything and you know it. Now let's prove that to everyone else. Use flamethrower."

"Evolution isn't everything I agree but my Charizard is too strong for Zippo. Show them how strong you are with your flamethrower." Charizard opened its maw wide as a spout of flames erupted from it straight at Zippo's. Charizard's flamethrower easily overcame Zippo's and even knocked it out with a single hit.

"Wow Ash. That Charizard sure is something but it isn't the same one that you used the other day is it?" Ritchie asked as he and Ash both recalled their Pokémon.

"No, I have two and you might say this one and my other one are like twin brothers." Ash told him before calling out his next Pokémon. "I choose you, Blastoise."

"Ash, I thought you would've known what my last Pokémon was and used your Venusaur again for the type advantage, not put yourself at a disadvantage. Go Sparky." The Blastoise and Ritchie's Pikachu appeared on the field ready to battle.

"I did know what you would choose." He said shocking everyone but his friends and family. "But the thing is, my Blastoise has only ever fought two electric types and they were Pikachu and another of mine because I haven't really had her long enough to use in any battles as I've been training for the last few months. So I want to know how she can do against someone else's electric types too as she's never been quite strong enough to defeat either of mine, though that doesn't mean she's not strong as those two can both be classed as among the ranks of my top Pokémon."

"I guess that makes sense so we'll start this off with thunderbolt Sparky." A bolt of lightning shot towards Blastoise but before it could reach Ash called out his orders.

"Blastoise, use withdraw to lessen the damage from that attack and then hit it with waterfall." Blastoise pulled its body into its shell as the lightning bolt hit then popped back out again with a large number of burn marks on its body before it aimed its cannons into the sky. Blastoise fired a large stream of water from each cannon and when they met they combined into an even larger one which fell directly on Sparky who cried out in pain. When the smoke from the impact cleared Sparky was still standing but both he and Ash's Blastoise were nearly finished, the next attack for either one would finish it. "Blastoise, flash cannon!"

"Sparky, thunder!" A lightning bolt even bigger than the last started shooting across the field just as a silver beam fired from Blastoise's cannons. They met in the centre of the field producing a massive explosion which sent both Pokémon flying back into the side of the arena. When the smoke around them cleared they were both unconscious.

"And with that massive explosion Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town makes it to the quarter-finals everyone. His next battle is sure to be one to watch." The commentator announced for everyone to hear and the crowds went wild.

"Sparky return." Ritchie called out somewhat dejectedly. Ash could feel that he was disappointed to lose but glad that the battle went the way it did as it taught him a lot of things. He was also happy that at least he had lost to a friend so he could keep cheering him on. He walked over to Ash who grinned at him before speaking up.

"You put up a good fight Ritchie, there are an awful lot of trainers who wouldn't even be able to tire one of those three out let alone substantially weaken one and knock out another. Happy and Sparky are definitely powerful and I suspect Zippo is too, I just didn't get to see as my Charizard do tend to be quite overpowering."

"Thanks Ash, that means a lot coming from you. Congratulations on the win by the way, I guess you're on to the quarter-finals now?"

"I guess so; I think my opponent is some girl called Assunta, you going to be there to cheer me on? After all, soon you'll be able to say you're the friend of and got beaten by the Indigo League champ."

"You bet I will, but how can you be so sure you'll win?"

"Oh, well if you watch my semi-final match then you'll find out why…"

"I'd better." With that they shook hands and left to their respective locker rooms. The crowds were cheering madly at the show of good sportsmanship and friendship and his friends and family were very proud of him.

* * *

It was the following day and Ash was preparing for his first full 6 on 6 battle in quite a while. His opponent was, according to Brock, 'a blue haired beauty' that was indeed called Assunta. He felt a bit lonely in his trainer's box but knew that he couldn't have Pikachu and Lucario with him for now as they weren't on his team for the battle.

When the rules had been stated the participants called out their Pokémon. "Rhydon, let's do this." Assunta hollered as she threw a pokéball on to the field. It didn't look as strong as Ash's was but he knew that you couldn't be too careful and she had to be good to have made it this far.

"I choose you, Psyduck!" Ash countered with the weak looking water type, though just as Ash had been thinking a minute before, looks can be deceiving.

* * *

"Why on earth would Ash send out his Psyduck? It's supposed to be identical to mine and mine is useless!" Misty shouted and several people gave her strange looks.

"Misty, sit down and be quiet. I'm sure Ash has a reason and you can't go shouting stuff like that it's too closely linked to that secret." Brock quickly shushed her.

"Oops… Sorry." She sat down at this point disheartened by the fact that she nearly started yelling Ash's most important secret to just about the whole world.

* * *

"Alright Rhydon, crush that puny thing with stomp."

"Psyduck, stop it in its tracks with confusion and then hit it with water gun." The large drill Pokémon was charging towards Psyduck when its body was surrounded by a blue glow and it froze in place. A blast of water surged towards it as Psyduck opened his beak, making contact and sending Rhydon staggering back as the glow faded.

"Rhydon, use rock tomb to pin it down then close in and use rock smash on it." As Rhydon regained its balance it punched the floor of the battlefield and a large number of rocks shot up out of the ground, surrounding Psyduck, before Ash could call for a dodge. Rhydon then lumbered towards the rocks and struck them with a fist that was glowing white. The rocks were reduced to rubble and everyone saw Ash's Psyduck go flying across the field before it landed and slowly climbed back to its feet ready to keep going.

"Psyduck, water gun once more!"

"Rhydon, hit it with rock slide!" Psyduck fired a jet of water at Rhydon and struck home for the second time that round, dealing significant damage but stones began to form above him before they started falling to earth.

"Psyduck, dodge those stones!" The duck Pokémon tried its best to avoid them all but a few still managed to strike glancing blows, Ash saw it was nearly finished and made his next choice. "Use rest Psyduck." Psyduck promptly sat down and went to sleep while his wounds began to heal.

"Rhydon, use a take down attack."

"Perfect, use sleep talk!" As the large grey Pokémon closed in on its target a torrent of steaming water shot from Psyduck and struck Rhydon in the same place as the previous water guns. "Nice use of scald Psyduck!" Ash shouted to his Pokémon as it woke up. After the steam from Psyduck's attack cleared Rhydon could be seen unconscious on the ground.

"Psy Psy" Psyduck cheered while Ash translated. _"I showed him!"_

* * *

"His Psyduck is so powerful; does this mean that I'm a terrible water type trainer?" Misty wondered aloud.

"I'm sure it's nothing that bad Misty, why don't we just ask Ash after the match." Oak suggested and she agreed as the plan made sense.

* * *

"Rhydon return. Let's go Venomoth."

"Psyduck, take a good rest. You've earned it. Now, Pidgeot, I choose you!" When Ash's clone Pidgeot and Assunta's Venomoth were out on the field Ash decided to take the initiative and attack first. "Pidgeot, use aerial ace then follow up with a quick attack combined with steel wing!" The Pokémon looped up and round before flying straight at the purple moth. Just as it was about to strike it seemed to disappear but reappeared a moment later avoiding the attempt made to block it before striking.

The bird then came back around and left a trail of white behind her as she approached Venomoth again at high speed. Shortly before she struck her wing glowed silver then the wing was slammed into Venomoth sending it spiralling to the ground. When it landed it was clearly unconscious.

* * *

"Wow. That was a quick knock out, even for Ash. It was almost like she gave up on it." Ritchie stated to the others up in the stands, he had come to cheer Ash on just as he had promised too. It was fortunate he hadn't heard the earlier conversation about Psyduck being identical to Misty's else they may have had some awkward questions to answer.

"Oh no, I didn't manage to get any good photos." Delia said, oblivious to the conversation around her as she watched the match on her camera screen waiting for the perfect chance to snap a few pictures for her album.

* * *

'_Something's not right, she must have something planned so I have to be careful with whatever comes next.'_ Ash thought as he awaited her next Pokémon.

"Ivysaur, you're up!"

'_A Pokémon at a disadvantage, now I'm sure she has something in mind.'_ Ash thought before giving his command to Pidgeot. "Get in close with quick attack again." As Pidgeot got close Ash saw a smirk cross Assunta's face and realised her plan. "Pidgeot, you have to get out of there now!" He yelled in a panic. But he was too late.

"Ivysaur, sleep powder. Then hit it with a full power solar beam while it's down." A cloud of blue dust was puffed out of the flower on Ivysaur's back and Pidgeot was too close to avoid it. She went straight into the cloud of spores and out the other side but by this point she was falling asleep. The centre of Ivysaur's flower glowed as it charged up before firing the beam of solar energy straight at the bird Pokémon, dealing the last blow.

"Pidgeot return. You did well girl, now get some rest. I choose you Vulpix!"

* * *

***The speech in this segment will all be translated 'Pokéspeech'.***

"That was a good strategy," Lucario observed. "I doubt anyone could've have seen that coming."

"I agree with you but I get the feeling Ash will still feel bad for falling for such a simple trap." Pikachu explained.

"Then we'll just have to cheer him up later somehow."

"Yay, everyone be cheerful!" Togepi cheered from Misty's arms while the other two chuckled at her ever gleeful attitude.

* * *

"Alright Ivysaur let's start this off with razor leaf."

"Vulpix, burn them all to a crisp with flamethrower then use fire blast on Ivysaur."

"What? That runt knows fire blast?" Assunta asked, not believing Vulpix was capable of learning the move. Ash was proved right however when, after what had been a razor leaf attack floated to the floor as ashes, a fire blast erupted from Vulpix's mouth straight for Ivysaur.

Assunta panicked, unable to find a way to escape the attack and before long it struck Ivysaur dead on. The seed Pokémon was thrown back a little ways before getting back up on to its feet, much weaker now. "Ivysaur, vine whip!" The vines shot out at Vulpix and a few struck before Ash could respond to the threat.

"Vulpix, look for an opening and use quick attack to escape." Vulpix waited patiently, dodging from side to side when he could until he spotted a large gap between the vines and used quick attack to dive through before it closed off again. "Now use sunny day and follow up with fire spin." A small white sphere formed in Vulpix's mouth before it was fired at the sun as a beam. The sunlight intensified and the weather grew hotter before Vulpix sent a spiral of flames straight at Ivysaur, the attack hit once again knocking it back a few steps. Ivysaur collapsed to the floor but remained conscious; it struggled back to its feet before bellowing.

"Sauuuuurrrrr!" Suddenly it was engulfed in white light and everyone knew what that meant, Ivysaur was evolving.

"Not good, we're going to have to step up our game when that light dies down Vulpix." And die down the light did to reveal a Venusaur that towered over the small fox. "Alright, let's hit it with a flamethrower once again." Flames quickly began working their way towards Venusaur but Assunta had an idea.

"Let's use his tactic from the other day Venusaur, use solar beam while the sun is still strong." The beam of energy fired towards the flamethrower and they met midway between the two Pokémon. The attacks struggled to overcome each other but neither could win over the other and an explosion soon followed. The two Pokémon dug their feet into the ground to stop them being pushed back and soon the smoke cleared showing the two slightly scratched but still going strong.

"So you were watching my match eh? Well that tactic may work against flamethrower but it'll tire out Venusaur much faster than flamethrower would Vulpix. We'll use more power than that though, use overheat Vulpix!"

"Oh no, you have to get out of there Venusaur!" Assunta cried out, hoping that it would make it away in time but Venusaur was nowhere near fast enough after its evolution and it was engulfed by a large stream of white fire. When the fire stopped Venusaur was out cold.

"As one trainer has lost three of their Pokémon we will now take a five minute break." The referee announced.

* * *

"Wow, I can't believe Ash has a three to one lead in the quarter-finals. These matches are usually really close calls." Misty said to the others.

"That may be Misty but remember that also means she still has three Pokémon to turn this battle around. We can't just assume that Ash will win this because he has a good lead at the moment." Professor Oak countered.

"You're right there Gramps." Gary said, surprising everyone as nobody had even realised he was there. "After all, I've had Ash in a situation like this before but he still managed to come back and nearly defeat me if I'm honest."

"I guess you guys are right. But Gary, when did you get here?" Misty said, asking the question on everyone's mind.

"What do you mean 'When did you get here?'? I've been here the whole time, you were just too busy drooling over Ashy boy to notice and everyone else was too focused on the battle." He teased before a mallet struck him over the head and Brock offered him a hand, empathising with him as a past victim of the mallet.

* * *

"Trainer's please return to your positions and call out your Pokémon."

"I choose you, Raichu!" Ash released the short brown mouse that looked raring to go. The clone of Ash's Pikachu had come to Ash looking to evolve after battling the source of its DNA and losing badly several times in a row. With his new senses he was able to tell that it was truly sure this was what it wanted. Knowing that he went to his bag and took out the thunderstone Nurse Joy had given him before his rematch with Lt. Surge. He gave it to the Pikachu and it became the Raichu in front of him now. It still lost to Pikachu but nowhere near as badly and had come to terms with the fact, now seeing Pikachu as a strong training rival.

"We can still turn this around, now let's show them how, Electabuzz!" Assunta cried out, once the two electric types had taken their positions the battle started. "Electabuzz, hit that rat with a thundershock!"

"You should really stop insulting my Pokémon because they don't like it and I'm starting to get annoyed with you for it too. Raichu, counter that with your own thundershock." They both launched a small lightning bolt at each other but Raichu's cut straight through Electabuzz's and struck it. As it was a weak move and Electabuzz was naturally resistant to electric type attacks it did very little damage though.

"It's pointless for you to even try and beat my Raichu with an electric type attack, even if it could somehow break through Raichu's it wouldn't do any real damage just like Raichu's electric type attacks do little against Electabuzz. Raichu, close in with agility then strike with slam." Raichu did just that and ran off so fast that nobody could tell where he was, only occasionally spotting a flash of yellow that was his tail before he disappeared again.

"Dodge it Electabuzz!" But Electabuzz couldn't dodge the attack if he didn't know where it was coming from and Raichu appeared right behind him, slightly in the air before it dropped down on Electabuzz, crushing it slightly before jumping off and running back to its side of the field so Electabuzz couldn't land a sneak attack. "Hit it with swift Electabuzz!" A group of stars were sent straight at Raichu but Ash had been expecting an attack and acted quickly.

"Raichu, use protect then close in with agility again and hit it with iron tail." The green sphere of protect appeared around Raichu stopping the stars before is disappeared at high speeds once again.

"Electabuzz, it'll probably try and attack from behind again so turn round ready to counter with thunderpunch." The electric Pokémon did just that but was surprised when Raichu appeared in the space that was, until moments ago, right in front of it.

It tried turning back around to counter but Raichu's glowing tail struck before it even got half way and it was sent flying in to the battle area wall. It fell from the wall, clearly unconscious and was announced unable to battle. "Electabuzz return. Alright, let's try Tentacool."

"Raichu, thunder dance combo." Raichu formed a blue sphere in its jaw which he sent straight up into the air, the orb slowly dissipated producing large black clouds which began pouring rain all over the battlefield. The mouse Pokémon then fired an enormous lightning bolt into the clouds and lightning began striking randomly all over the field until it eventually struck Tentacool who had already dodged several bolts but was unable to dodge the last one. When the lightning stopped flashing Tentacool could be seen lying unconscious on the battlefield.

As Assunta recalled her Pokémon the commentator gave his opinion of events which turned out to be spot on. "Some of you might be wondering where that 'thunder dance' move came from but it looks like it is actually a combination of two quite well known moves. The use of rain dance to produce the rain that makes the move 'thunder' more likely to hit and then the use of that move to charge the new clouds with electricity. The result seems to be your own little thunder storm with as much electric power coming out in the lightning as is put in by the attack."

Ash just nodded along with the commentator's observations while thinking. _'I'm sure Assunta probably saved her most powerful Pokémon for last and Raichu's pretty tired after that combo, I better switch him out.'_

"Raichu return, you did great boy. Vileplume, I choose you!"

"We can still win this. Go Nidoking! Start things off with horn attack!"

"Trip it up with grass knot then use mega drain!" Nidoking bellowed a roar and began running towards Vileplume with its head low ready to strike. It never made it though, as a few blades of grass had sprouted and knotted together catching its foot and sending it sprawling in the dirt.

Tendrils of green energy worked their way towards the drill Pokémon. When they made contact they started draining Nidoking's health, Vileplume was unable to gain from this loss though as she had not suffered any injuries.

"Alright Nidoking, get up and use earthquake." The Pokémon in question got back onto its feet and jumped slightly creating shockwaves when it landed again. The shockwaves knocked Vileplume to her knees and Assunta took advantage of this. "Use fire blast while it's down." A fiery kanji left Nidoking's mouth straight for Vileplume.

"Oh no, Vileplume get out of there!" But Vileplume wasn't fast enough and the attack hit home drawing cries of pain from her. When the flames cleared she was unconscious. "Good work Vileplume, you did your best." Ash said as he recalled the flower Pokémon. "I choose you, Wartortle! Let's start things off by combining an aqua jet with a hydro pump."

"Stop it with shadow claw!" As the evolution of the clone of Ash's Squirtle flew towards Nidoking in a stream of water it started spinning with short but strong jets of water shooting from the openings of the shell it had withdrawn into. As the attacks made contact with each other the shadow claw was cancelled out by the aqua jet but the hydro pump broke through and struck Nidoking, dealing a lot of damage. "When you recover use double team then hit it with flamethrower."

Soon Nidoking was back on its feet and produced multiple copies of itself. Each of these copies launched a flamethrower at Wartortle but he didn't know which one to dodge so the attack hit and left some burns on his skin and shell. Once the attack had made contact the copies quickly faded away.

"Wartortle, retaliate with water gun then launch a water pulse to finish it." The two super-effective attacks hit as Nidoking couldn't dodge fast enough and they finished the match.

"With those last attacks Ketchum moves on to the semi-finals having lost only two Pokémon this round, what will he pull off next?" The commentator roared and the crowds broke in to tumultuous applause.

* * *

Later in the day everyone had gathered at Ash's lodge after dinner to chat.

"So Ash, how is it that you were able to train your Psyduck to be so strong when mine is absolutely useless?" Misty inquired and those who knew the true history behind his Psyduck were also extremely interested. She felt both exasperated and somewhat relieved at his answer.

"Well, I'll say two things. One, have you ever actually tried to train Psyduck? Because I've only ever seen, or rather heard, you complain about it. But more importantly, though they are very similar physically and in mental capacity, my Psyduck's attitude has always been the complete opposite of yours. He sought to learn and train so that he could compete with his playmates in battle as well, hence he became strong. Your Psyduck on the other hand just wants to laze around and that is literally all it wants to do." Ash answered and everyone simply nodded as they took it in.

"So Ash, have you decided on your team for the match tomorrow?" It was Gary this time.

"I've had that and my team for the finals decided since before the tournament even began."

"What!? That long?" Ritchie was shocked by this revelation.

"Yeah, they're some of the Pokémon that are both my strongest and some of my closest friends so I knew they would be in the final few rounds. Though I do admit that I brought forwards the debut of Blastoise, Charizard and Venusaur when I found out that the first round of the victory tournament was a three on three match too, they are probably the best three member team I have. They're all good friends and rivals so they end up pushing each other to do better when they know they're in the same battle." He finished with a chuckle.

Ritchie went back to his own lodge not long after that and Gary followed his lead after about half an hour. "Well Ash, you better deliver on that promise of yours 'cause if you don't I'll be out for you after making me waste my time." He said with a smirk as he left. The door closed behind him and as the rest of them walked back to the lounge Ash realised something, freezing in mid-step.

"Wait, did Gary just call me Ash and not Ashy boy?"

"Why yes, I think he did. I guess my grandson has finally grown to respect you somewhat after you came this far while he only made it to the top thirty two."

"Somewhere out there, the world is starting to end." Ash told everyone and they laughed, completely understanding his reasoning.

* * *

It was finally time for the semi-final match and Ash was nervous for the first time since he arrived. By the end of this battle people all over the world would know he had a legendary with him and they would want answers. If only Pikachu and Lucario could be with him then they might be able to calm his nerves but as it was he would simply have to do it himself. He meditated for the last few minutes before he was called out to the field.

Taking his place in the trainer's box he looked across the field to see his opponent, Isabel Lane. She was a few years older than him and he was surprised to find that even he thought she looked mildly attractive with her flowing brown hair and elegant white dress. Not that he would let that distract him, even after seeing her he had no particular interest in her other than beating her to go on to the final. The rules of the match were declared and the trainers told to send out their first Pokémon.

"Bulbasaur, I choose you!" Ash said, calling out the first of the Kanto starters that he had caught.

"Arbok, we can do this." Isabel yelled as the snake appeared. "Start this off with acid!"

As a stream of purple liquid shot towards Bulbasaur from Arbok's mouth Ash gave his commands. "Dodge that Bulbasaur then hit it with seed bomb!" Bulbasaur jumped to the side moments before the attack landed and fired several large seeds from his bulb, all of them landing near Arbok and exploding. "Now follow up with razor leaf." Bulbasaur attempted to do just that and shot a large number of sharp leaves towards Arbok.

"Use dig to dodge that then use fire fang." Arbok dived in to the ground just before the leaves struck, making them fly past harmlessly. It suddenly exploded out of the ground right beside Bulbasaur and bit his leg with flaming fangs.

Bulbasaur cried out in pain but soon took action once more as Ash gave his next orders. "Grab Arbok with vine whip and throw it into the air, then use solarbeam on it." A pair of vines shot from Bulbasaur's back just as Arbok tried to return to its own side of the battlefield. The vines wrapped around Arbok's tail and flung it into the air where it hung helpless.

"Use gunk shot to counter that solarbeam!" The bag of rubbish Arbok had produced met the beam of light that Bulbasaur had produced head on and they exploded. Arbok dived through the smoke to follow its trainer's next command. "Ice fang now!"

"Dodge then razor leaf!"

"Use dig as you hit the ground to escape!"

"Aim the leaves into the hole!"

"What?" In answer to her question Bulbasaur fired a razor leaf attack at the hole Arbok had made and the leaves flew down it, striking Arbok below ground. The cobra Pokémon soon resurfaced screeching in pain as it tried to escape the leaves. "Alright Arbok try to get up and…"

"Leech seed!" Ash interrupted. A seed fired from Bulbasaur's back and once it came into contact with its target several vines shot out wrapped around Arbok. It then started draining Arbok's health to Bulbasaur, healing him of his wound. "Now finish it off with energy ball." A green, glowing ball formed in Bulbasaur's mouth and he shot it towards Arbok. It exploded on contact and sent the snake flying. When it landed the vines withdrew from the leech seed as it was no longer fit to battle.

"Arbok return. Let's rumble Weezing!"

"Bulbasaur, you come on back too. I choose you Squirtle!" And so Bulbasaur was replaced in battle by one of the oldest and greatest friends he had made since joining Ash.

"Weezing, get this going with smokescreen then hit it with a sludge bomb while it can't see you." Thick black smoke began pouring out of Weezing's mouth at this point and covered the majority of the field with smoke.

"_Squirtle."_ Ash said to the tiny turtle Pokémon telepathically. _"Let's catch them by surprise, clear the smoke around you with rapid spin then use iron defence to take that sludge bomb. After it hits dive at its source with skull bash."_ Squirtle started clearing the smoke just as Ash had asked and only a few people in the crowd weren't surprised while Isabel had no idea why they were surprised as the smoke on her side blocked her view of Squirtle.

* * *

"Huh, but Ash didn't tell Squirtle what to do so how did it know to use rapid spin?" Gary asked.

"I suspect that Ash has finally decided to start giving it close to his all and has started using the telepathic abilities he has. So he did tell Squirtle what to do only he did it through a connection in their minds." His grandfather explained to him.

"Wait, Ash is telepathic? Since when?"

"Well Ash spent the last month before the Indigo Conference training in isolation but about a week before he left for that he was informed that he had psychic powers and went to get them trained. At first it was thought he would only be capable of telepathy but apparently while away Ash learned that he could also use telekinesis and showed it in his first match against that Mandi guy." It had been Brock that answered this time.

"Impressive…" Gary mumbled, not wanting anyone to hear him. But they all heard him clearly and smiled.

* * *

Soon after the smoke had cleared around Squirtle a large ball of brown sludge flew out of the ring of smoke around him. He withdrew into his shell and it glowed silver as the sludge bomb exploded on impact but did negligible damage to him. Squirtle had taken note of the direction it came from and readied himself to strike.

"Alright, that should do some real damage!" Isabel crowed and it was only then that the crowd realised she had no idea that Squirtle was fine and preparing for a strong attack. At that they grinned a little as they came to understand just how much strategy Ash had applied. He let her believe she had done a large amount of damage, giving him a chance to power up for an attack that could knock her Pokémon out with one hit.

"_Now."_ Ash said and Squirtle dived at the source of the sludge bomb. He quickly made contact and sent Weezing flying out of the smoke to crash, unconscious, into the ground by Isabel. He then quickly cleared the rest of the smoke with another rapid spin.

"How is your Squirtle fine? You didn't give it any commands and I clearly heard the sludge bomb hit!" Isabel was shocked that his Squirtle was not only fine but had knocked out her Pokémon without her being any the wiser.

"I have telepathic abilities and I decided to start using them now as it benefitted me greatly in the position I was in. As for how Squirtle is fine, I simply had him use iron defence just before your attack hit so that you would think you had injured him, leaving you wide open for a power attack."

"Gahh, how is that fair! Weezing return, let's take this guy down a few pegs Dodrio!"

"It isn't me that needs taking down a few pegs. Squirtle, return for now. Meowth, I choose you!"

"Dodrio hit it with a tri attack then use quick attack to get in close!"

"_Dodge that tri attack then strike with thunderbolt."_ An orb formed in each of Dodrio's three mouths, they then coalesced into a triangle which sped towards Meowth. Isabel thought she was going to get a hit before she was reminded of Ash's abilities as Meowth simply sidestepped before sending a bolt of lightning straight at the larger bird. The move struck and dealt quite some damage due to its type advantage, but not enough to finish it off.

"Gah, use quick attack to close in and then keep hitting it with fury attack!" Before Ash could decide how to counter the bird was on top of Meowth and striking it repeatedly with all of its beaks. It left no opening for Meowth and Ash was a little impressed, though most of the Pokémon he had fought so far in this tournament would probably have been tougher overall.

"_Use night slash to knock it away then strike with pay day."_ Meowth watched for an opening. Finding it when one of the heads missed its attack and he struck it with his claws glowing purple. Meowth then jumped into the air, crossing his arms then opening them once again as glowing coins shot out of the charm on his head. They struck all over Dodrio's body before clattering to the ground having served their purpose.

"_Now finish it off with a full power thunder across the whole field so it can't dodge."_ Sparks covered Meowth as Isabel simply told her Pokémon to dodge it. Meowth released the stored energy across the battlefield, lighting it up in the process. The crowd watched in awe as the battlefield was turned into a giant light bulb for a moment and Dodrio was fried.

"As Isabel Lane has lost three of her Pokémon we will now have a five minute break." The referee called.

* * *

"Wow, I never would have figured that Meowth could be so strong." Misty observed.

"Well it is surprising for a Meowth to be that strong but most of Ash's Pokémon are unusually strong, especially his strongest. You wouldn't believe how far his first Charizard has come these days." Professor Oak told her.

"Yeah, I saw a different Charizard to the one he used against me when Team Rocket tried to steal our Pokémon the other day. It lifted up an entire van as if it weighed nothing and flew it back to Ash. It was incredible." Ritchie explained.

"Well I knew it would be strong, but not that strong…" Brock said.

'Is Ash really that good these days?' Gary wondered silently while Delia was still snapping away.

"Oh, Meowth has stayed out of its pokéball. I can get some more photos of it, how wonderful."

"I wonder if it doesn't like the pokéball like Pikachu and Lucario?" Brock added.

"No Brock, I think it just wants to stay out with Ash for a while longer as it had no problems with the pokéball back at the ranch. You never know, it might even be useful to Ash as its ability is pickup so it might find an interesting item for him." Oak explained.

* * *

"Will the trainers please return to their boxes so that the battle can recommence." The referee announced for all to hear.

"You're up Pinsir!" Isabel announced and the bug appeared on the field making Misty squirm in the crowds.

"I choose you, Shelgon!" Ash called out and out came the Bagon he had caught at Tohjo falls, now having evolved once and not too far from evolving again.

"What's a Shelgon?" Isabel inquired, getting no data from her pokédex.

"It's the first evolution of a pseudo-legendary evolutionary family from Hoenn. The evolved form is supposed to be around equal power to a Dragonite." Ash answered cheerfully, knowing that Shelgon was one of the most powerful of the Pokémon with him today and wouldn't be taken down easily so he could afford to give away a bit of information.

"Damn, that's not good but I suppose it doesn't affect my strategy anyway. Pinsir, use quick attack to get in close." Isabel called, somewhat calmer after the five minute break, while Ash was more nervous than ever as the time for one of his legendaries to be revealed was nearly upon him.

"_Use iron defence to protect against the next attack whatever it is."_

Pinsir appeared by Shelgon just as he used iron defence and Isabel recognised it straight away. "That won't work against this move, Guillotine!" Pinsir's pincers glowed as they closed around Shelgon's body.

"No!" Ash shouted in despair as Shelgon's own despair infected him as well. They both knew the consequences as the move struck. Shelgon was unconscious in moments and Pinsir returned to its own side. "Coward!" Ash roared as rage overtook him and he was engulfed in the yellow aura of his psychic energy though splashes of blue were distributed throughout it as well this time.

* * *

Up in the stands Ash's Pokémon were bellowing their agreement with him.

"Raaahhh!" Lucario shouted as the blue of his aura flared around him.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled as sparks flashed around his cheeks.

"Woah, those two are not happy." Gary observed as he and many of the surrounding spectators backed away slightly.

"Well it's no surprise; I hear they got along with very well Shelgon so an underhanded strategy like that would anger them. Even if it is technically allowed by League rules." Samuel told him.

"Was that the Pokémon Ash was talking about when he told me he had some 'trump cards' though?" He wondered aloud.

"No Gary. But I'm pretty sure we're about to see it what with how angry Ash is. That's also why you two should calm down as you know that Pokémon will definitely take revenge for Shelgon." Brock told them, directing the last part at Pikachu and Lucario who did indeed calm down and even had smirks on their faces now.

"Ok, now that expression is scary." Gary said and the others agreed for once.

* * *

Back on the battlefield Ash got control of his emotions as a sadistic grin appeared on his face and spoke for everyone to hear. "Well, I had been intending to save the Pokémon I am about to use for last but you have angered me more than you know. I feel every emotion my Pokémon feel and you have no idea how despaired Shelgon was when you ordered that attack. He was also the best Pokémon friend of the Pokémon I am about to use so it is as angry as I am at your underhanded tactic, even if it was legal. It's time to show the world you're here. Come on out and avenge your playmate, MEW!" He bellowed the final word to make absolutely sure everyone heard and hear they did for the stadium went silent.

Mew appeared on the field showing the crowds that Ash was completely serious but they were terrified as both trainer and Pokémon had that sadistic grin that spelt only danger for Isabel's Pokémon and possibly anyone else near them. She was also surrounded by an aura of pink psychic energy even greater than Ash's.

Ash was so enraged he didn't even bother with psychic commands. "Mew, wipe that bug out with overheat!" Mew took only a moment to ready and launch the extremely powerful fire type attack. Isabel was still in a state of shock and so gave no command to dodge. The attack struck so hard that Pinsir was blown back, crashing into the arena wall and forming a crater several feet deep before it came to a stop.

After a few minutes Isabel had still not recovered from the shock of being up against a legendary Pokémon. Most of the crowd were still just as shocked but the referee had recovered and spoke directly to Isabel. "Green trainer, if you do not call out your next Pokémon you will be disqualified."

Isabel broke out of her shock at the sound of the word disqualified and only then did she notice what had happened to her Pinsir. "Pinsir! Oh no! Just how powerful is that thing?" She wondered as she recalled the Pokémon. "I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of resigning from the battle! You're next Fearow!"

"To be quite honest I get more satisfaction from wiping out your pitiful Pokémon at the moment." Ash responded darkly, terrifying her almost beyond reason.

"Quickly Fearow, hit it with hyper beam before it can attack!" Isabel screamed in a panic.

"Teleport and hit it with a point blank ice beam." Ash ordered coldly and just as the orange beam was about to hit, Mew disappeared and reappeared on Fearow's back in a pair of pink flashes. A small blue orb formed in her mouth and then shot out; the beam knocked Fearow out cold and froze it in a block of ice for good measure as well.

"Fearow return, how on earth is this fair!?" Isabel cried out, knowing that no matter what she tried Mew would wipe it out.

"There's no rule against it." Ash said simply and it was like a slap in the face to her. He was effectively doing exactly what she had, though Mew could be defeated by a Pokémon that was strong enough none of hers were anywhere near and he knew it. But none of his Pokémon could take a guillotine attack and walk away, how had her strategy been any better? She understood it now, he was showing her despair. Even if the despair could not compare to that which Shelgon felt she realised her mistake now.

She dropped to her knees and uttered a single sentence barely loud enough for even the referee and Ash to hear. "I forfeit this match."

"Good, that means you've learnt your lesson." Ash said as the auras around him and Mew faded away and their expressions returned to normal. The referee quickly announced Ash's victory which snapped the crowd out of the shock they were still experiencing and eliciting an enormous cheer from them. "Come on Mew, let's teleport back to the lodge before anyone can get here and ask any questions." Ash told the small, pink, feline Pokémon and she was about to do so when suddenly Meowth ran to the edge of the arena and started pawing at the floor. He ran back to Ash and arrived just as the media entered the arena to try and get an interview. In his hands was a fire stone which Ash took, thanking Meowth for the good find and hard battling. "Alright, Meowth return and let's get out of here Mew."

The reporters thrust their microphones towards Ash and suddenly he just wasn't there. They were baffled until one of them realised what had happened. "Oh no! The Mew knows teleport; we won't be able to get close to him now." They all sighed as they realised he was probably true but vowed to get an interview with him as was their job.

* * *

**So that's all folks, let me know what you think as usual if you please. If you don't feel like doing it then I will find you address and... No I won't, if that's the case just don't leave one. :P**

**Hope you liked it. Oh, and I'm sorry if I failed to answer a question someone asked or wanted to know the answer too, just remind me with a quick PM or Review if I didn't and you still want to know as I'm happy to answer all questions that won't result in me spoiling the story.**


	6. Final Round and Where to Journey Next

**Author's Note**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.**

**Well here's the next chapter, thanks for all the reviews and messages. I am considering all requests for Pokémon even if I haven't replied to you so don't worry.**

**As usual here are the speech types:  
"Normal Speech"  
_"Telepathic Speech"  
'Private Thoughts'  
_'Quoting Someone/Something'**

* * *

Chapter 6 – Final Round and Where to Journey Next

Ash was in his bedroom back at his lodge after having revealed the fact that Mew was a part of his team. Mew had quickly teleported the two of them back to the room and brought Pikachu and Lucario with them. "Mewtwo, I guess it's time for you to join us." Ash said as he called out the second of his legendaries from a pokéball he had left on the desk in his room. "Well guys, now the world knows I have a legendary with me so the media will be all over us for a while. I was thinking that perhaps I should call President Goodshow and ask him to organise a press conference after the finals so they will leave us alone until then. What do you guys think?"

"_Will I get to play?"_ Mew asked, innocent as always.

"_No Mew, a press conference is a serious event, people will want to know how Ash managed to catch the two of us and everything there is to know about us. That means that we will effectively be on display to the people of the world but I think it might be the right idea. At least if we give them some information and tell them they will get nothing else from us they will probably leave us be."_ Mewtwo told her.

"_Yes, we will have a lot of attention for now no matter what we do so if we can lose some of it through the conference and then find a way to disappear for a while then hopefully things will die down a bit."_ Lucario added.

"_Aww, I wanted to play…"_ Mew moaned.

"You can play with everyone once we get back to Pallet Town and when we move out to travel again. Though that might be more difficult now as I really don't think I should leave any of you four at the ranch but then I won't be able to take more than two others with me at a time which won't be too good."

"_We'll cross that bridge when we come to it Ash but you know that we, your Pokémon, will support you whatever your choice. That applies to both the conference and your Pokémon for travelling."_ Pikachu encouraged, rubbing his cheek against Ash's having climbed to the boy's shoulder.

Suddenly the door burst open to reveal Gary who was about to enter until he was pinned against the wall opposite the door by a psychic force with Pikachu, Ash and Lucario taking up defensive positions in the doorway. When he saw that it was only Gary Ash lowered his guard. "It's okay guys, we can trust Gary. _Mewtwo, I think we should let Gary know about you. He's the only one that's visited frequently and doesn't know about you. Ritchie's only been over a couple of times so I don't think it'll be as big of a deal with him and Gary also helped me to become the trainer I am today by being my rival. He will keep our secret."_

The force on Gary suddenly disappeared and he fell to the floor, stumbling slightly as he regained his footing. "Can I come in?" He asked, hoping not to be pinned again.

"Yes, sorry about that. One of my Pokémon is very defensive about his private life and he didn't know whether he could trust you. I told him he could just now so as long as you don't try and betray our trust then you'll be fine."

"Thanks for that then. We made sure the media didn't get in when we got back but they're not about to let you go so you're going to have to come up with something good to get rid of them. But does what you said mean your Mew is a boy?" He finished as he closed the door behind him.

"I guess I should be thanking you then but Mew is a girl." Gary began turning around intending to ask who had pinned him then but before he could, he saw Mewtwo and froze.

"Wh-What on Earth is that?" He stuttered.

"That is Mewtwo." Ash told him. _'It's no wonder he's frozen like that, the last time he saw Mewtwo he got annihilated. Even if he doesn't remember it thanks to Mewtwo's work I'm sure there's something there.' _He then continued. "He joined me at the same time Mew did. All I will tell you that isn't in the pokédex is that he was originally created in an attempt to produce an 'improved' clone of Mew by a certain organisation. You may not tell anyone else that information, all the others in this house know about his origins but he doesn't want the world to."

"Okay, so how did you manage to catch two legendaries? Last time I saw you I was beating you pretty easily but I couldn't have beaten a legendary Pokémon." Gary inquired.

"I didn't catch them, the two asked to join me, this was before I could use my telepathy but Mewtwo has always been capable of telepathy and it was him who told me of their request. I am not going to explain the circumstances of our meeting as they are private for good reason."

"_Everything Ash has told you is the truth."_ Mewtwo added to confirm his telepathy.

"Okay, well I guess that makes more sense than somehow defeating them in battle and Mewtwo just confirmed the telepathy thing himself. Speaking of telepathy, when did you learn to use it?" Gary replied.

"Well, at first I was just asking Mewtwo about his habit of meditating every morning and then he told me I had psychic potential and should try and get it trained. So about a week before I was due to leave for one last month of training in isolation I finally managed to find out about someone who might be able to help me; I went and found her and she helped me out."

"I see, that explains why we didn't have another of our inexplicable run-ins during that time."

"Maybe. But I heard about this person from Sabrina who sent me a Haunter I had once unofficially caught and used against her to win the marsh badge just before I left. Then when I was away I caught that Shelgon, though he was just a Bagon back then and I had to save him from drowning first."

"What are Bagon and Shelgon by the way? I heard you give that girl an explanation but I couldn't hear the details from the stands."

Ash threw Gary his pokédex and explained the reasoning. "That's a national pokédex so it's in there. Professor Oak gave it to me after I got my Lucario and I figured I would probably travel to different regions in the future so it would be even more useful."

Gary looked up the two Pokémon and was shocked. "Whoa, a pseudo-legendary from Hoenn? I guess that thing really is pretty strong, we just didn't get a chance to see."

"He is strong, in fact he's probably my seventh strongest, you'll see the other six tomorrow, I'll be using them in strength order even if it puts me at a type disadvantage and I can tell you all these four will be there."

"Well I guess it's not surprising that those four are amongst your strongest but who are the other two?"

"You'll just have to wait and see. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to call President Goodshow to organise a press conference after the final match. That should get the media off my back for now."

"Alright then Ash, I guess I'll see you later then. We might get Misty to bring you up some food if the media aren't gone by the time dinner is ready."

"Oh please anyone but her. She barely lets me out of her sights and she probably won't even want to leave my room tonight if she gets let in to give me my dinner."

"Ok then Ashy boy." Gary said, leaving the room with an evil grin on his face.

"He is definitely going to send her isn't he?"

"_Yes."_ Four voices said as their owners chortled at Ash's predicament.

"Oh well, all I can do for now is call Goodshow and sort out the press conference." And that was exactly what he did, shortly after the call was made but before the message was given to the media, dinner arrived and he received a visitor.

* * *

It was the next day and time for the final match. Ash's opponent was an 18 year old called Adam Clark and Ash could feel the love he had for his Pokémon. The young man was a couple of feet taller than Ash due to the age difference and was dressed in shorts and a shirt along with a Stetson sat atop his head similarly to a Tauros wrangler.

Ash was quite nervous, he was finally in his match for the title of league champion and it was against the man who had been champion for three years running now. Adam was not going to be a push over even with Mew and Mewtwo, he would put up one hell of a fight and Ash was sure he would lose at least a couple of his Pokémon even though he planned to swap them out each round.

It didn't help that Misty had insisted on talking until the early hours of the morning and had then tried to give him a massage; at that point he had Mew use hypnosis to put them all to sleep. Fortunately Pikachu had woken him before Misty could wake up and give him the massage while he couldn't defend himself so he was now quite tired.

"This match will decide the winner of the Indigo Conference, will the participants please release their first Pokémon." The referee announced.

"Casper, I choose you!" Ash shouted and out came his now evolved Haunter.

"Do your best Ninetales!" Adam called. "Before we start this off, didn't you say earlier in the week that you don't nickname your Pokémon?"

"I did, but Casper is an exception to the rule. I'm sure there will be others in the future but his attitude really reminded me of a character in a TV show I once saw. The show was called 'Casper the Friendly Gastly' and when I showed him it, he loved it and instantly decided he wanted to take up the name. Even if he was a Gengar by then…" Ash explained.

When Ash had finished the referee decided to begin the battle before they could start any more conversations. "Battle begin!" He announced loudly.

"Let's start off with psyshock Ninetales."

"Casper, counter with shadow ball." Globules of light blue and purple energy flew towards Gengar but the ball of black energy between his hands was thrown in their path. When the two attacks met there was an explosion. The smoke cleared to reveal both Pokémon were, unsurprisingly, absolutely fine.

"Ninetales, flamethrower."

"Casper, dodge that and hit it with hypnosis!" The Gengar floated to the side of the flames and looked at Ninetales, his eyes glowed red and red beams shot from orbs of energy that had formed in his hands. When the beams struck, Ninetales quickly dropped to the floor asleep. _"Now attack with dream eater."_ Ash said, switching to telepathic commands.

A shadowy version of Casper detached itself from his body and dove straight through the sleeping fox making it howl in pain. "That was dream eater; he must have switched to using his telepathy to make it more difficult for me. We can still win this though." Adam muttered before pleading with his Ninetales which was still conscious. "Ninetales, please! Use sleep talk."

A wave of flaming air suddenly gushed from Ninetales' mouth and struck Ash's Pokémon dead on, knocking it to the floor briefly. By the time he was back on his feet Adam's Ninetales had woken up and was ready to continue battling, the two were now only feet away from each other. _"Casper, dark pulse!"_

"That's dark pulse; use your own to counter, Ninetales!" The two attacks collided and battled for dominance, soon resulting in an explosion. The Pokémon were thrown back several feet but climbed back up to keep going.

"_Casper, keep it going with poison jab."_ The shadow Pokémon dove at the fox Pokémon with a glowing purple fist. Just before it struck Adam gave his command though.

"Ninetales, use payback after it hits."

"_Cancel that attack and just get out of there Casper."_ Ash said, knowing that the coming attack would do a lot of damage to the ghost type. It was too late though and Casper's attack connected. Ninetales was sent back a few feet leaving it with a gap large enough to dive at and tackle the Gengar with payback. Following those attacks the two struggled to their feet once again before their final attacks were ordered.

"Ninetales, use flamethrower!"

"_Casper! Use shadow ball again!"_ Once more the attacks met in the middle of the two and the explosion catapulted the two towards the edge of the battlefield. When the smoke cleared they were both unconscious. "Return Casper. Thanks for all your hard work, you were great as always. Charizard, I choose you." Ash's natural born Charizard was called out and began materialising.

"Ninetales, you were great too so get some rest. Do your best, Arcanine." The two fire types quickly appeared on the field and the battle commenced. "Use flamethrower Arcanine!"

"_Use your own to counter that Charizard."_ The two streams of fire met in the centre of the battlefield and battled each other for a few moments before Charizard's cut through and struck Arcanine making it wince in pain. _'If that hurt it then its ability must be intimidate not flash fire; that means fire type attacks will work, even if they won't be anywhere near as effective."_

"Arcanine, attack it with thunder fang."

"_Get in the air before it can get close enough then hit it with dragon claw from above."_ Charizard quickly followed the orders and took to the skies, Arcanine attempted to follow Charizard but the lizard just rolled out of the way. This left Arcanine wide open as it fell back to Earth and Charizard took the opportunity to slash at its back with claws glowing blue.

When the attack struck it sent Arcanine crashing back down to the floor while Charizard remained in the skies. "Arcanine, get up and use hyper beam." The large canine quickly jumped back on to its feet and charged the attack, an orange ball of energy in its mouth.

"_Charizard, try and stop that attack with fire blast."_ Charizard released the fiery kanji just as the orange beam shot towards him. The two met but Arcanine's attack cut through Charizard's and struck him dead on. He fell back towards the field but managed to catch himself just before he landed. As Ash looked him over to check his health Charizard began to change slightly.

His tail flame was growing larger and more intense as well as turning a whitish blue colour. Waves of heat were pouring off his body and he knew what it meant. Smiling, he spoke to Ash. _"I will not let you down again and with this ability, blaze, activated I can win this battle with a single move."_

"_You've never let me down Charizard."_ Ash told him, sad that Charizard had felt that he had. _"You always come through for me when I need you to. Now then, why don't we finish this with a single move as you want to? Blast burn."_ With that said Charizard grinned. Glad that his trainer would always believe in him and was willing to grant his request for a quick finish.

His tail flame grew even larger as Adam watched in horror. _'That's blaze. With that ability activated he'll be a much tougher opponent, and Arcanine can't even get out of the way of any oncoming attacks after that hyper beam. It was stupid of me to think that a single hyper beam would be enough to finish that thing off, even if it did do a fair bit of damage.'_ An enormous stream of intense flames left Charizard's mouth and headed straight for the dog. _'Oh no, that much power means it must be blast burn. Arcanine will be finished by that attack even if he is a fire type.'_

The attack was true to its mark and hurled the Arcanine against the wall of the arena where he fell to the floor unconscious. "Return Arcanine. You were incredible buddy so get a nice long rest. Poliwrath, I only ask that you try your hardest." The tadpole Pokémon took its place on the field before Ash switched his own Pokémon.

"Charizard, that was some great work so take a rest for now. Lucario, I choose you." Lucario cheered wholeheartedly as he made his way onto the battlefield.

* * *

"Whoa, I knew his Charizard would be strong as he saved it for now but that was just crazy. That Arcanine was made to look like a puppy for crying out loud." Gary cried out, unable to believe that Ash's Pokémon were this strong.

"Well, I think it activated its blaze ability towards the end there and it used the most powerful fire type move I've heard of too, blast burn. It's extremely difficult to teach but that move combined with blaze could take out most Pokémon, even a dual water and rock type I suspect. The problem with it is that only the fully evolved fire type starters have ever been able to learn it, not even Mew can learn it as far as I know and Mew can learn almost every other move in existence. It also requires the user to recharge afterwards, just like hyper beam so you should only really use it for a guaranteed finish." Professor Oak explained.

"Man, I really have to get a few tips from Ash about training my Pokémon. As only the fire type starters can learn it are there similar moves that the other starters can learn?" Ritchie questioned.

Surprisingly it was Brock who answered this time, not Samuel. "You're right, there is one for each type; hydro cannon for water types and frenzy plant for grass types. Apparently Ash has been trying to teach them to the three he used to battle you Ritchie."

"Boy am I glad he didn't manage to, I would have lost in moments if he had." Ritchie speculated.

* * *

"Start off with bubblebeam Poliwrath!" Adam yelled from his trainer's box.

"_Counter that with dark pulse Lucario, then hit it with a force palm before it can recover."_ Ash commanded.

"_As you wish, Ash."_ Lucario said before he sent a dark pulse straight towards the incoming bubbles. The beam of purple circles cut straight through the bubbles and impacted on Poliwrath, the Pokémon struggled to hold its ground but it succeeded. However; it failed to notice Lucario running towards it in the meantime, by the time it did notice it was too late and Lucario's palm was on its chest.

There was a blast of light and Poliwrath was thrown back. _"Now attack with bone rush."_ Lucario began closing in to attack once again.

"Come on Poliwrath, get out of there." The Pokémon tried desperately but it was unable to move and soon Lucario was stood above it. A glowing, blue bone formed in his hands and he used it to repeatedly strike the defenceless Pokémon. When he finished his relentless attack he flipped away, back towards Ash. Fortunately for Adam, Poliwrath was still able to battle and could once again move. "Hit it with focus blast then a dynamic punch too."

Before Ash could act the blue sphere had struck and exploded on Lucario's body dealing a substantial amount of damage. Poliwrath then appeared in front of the aura Pokémon and punched it with a blue fist. Lucario was thrown back a few feet but was back on his feet in no time. He was panting lightly now but was still in a much better state than Poliwrath who barely seemed able to stand.

"_Use quick attack to close in; hit it with a full power aura sphere and then finish it off with close combat if that isn't enough."_ Lucario quickly obliged and sprinted towards Poliwrath so fast nobody could even see him. He appeared behind his opponent and threw a sphere of glowing, blue energy into it. When the smoke cleared it became obvious that the close combat would not be needed as Poliwrath was out cold on the floor.

"Return now Poliwrath, you were great."

At this point the referee announced a five minute break which seemed to fly by for the participants as they were soon back in their trainer boxes.

"Try your hardest, Raichu!" Adam called as he returned to his trainer's box.

"A Raichu? In that case it's you're lucky day Pikachu; I know how much you like fighting your evolved form." Pikachu jumped off of Ash's shoulder and onto the battlefield, readying himself for a good fight. _"Why don't we start things off this time Pikachu, use agility repeatedly to get as fast as you possibly can and then hit it with an electro ball."_

Pikachu set off around the field at an incredible pace, only getting faster as time went on. "What's he up to? Oh well, whatever he's using seems to rely on speed so slow it right down with grass knot Raichu." Unfortunately, Raichu was unable to predict Pikachu's path so it made the loop of grass grow in a random place on the field. As a result, Pikachu avoided it easily, speeding up still further until he formed a ball of electricity on his tail and launched it straight at Raichu whilst in mid-air. The ball struck and sent it flying.

"_Now use this opportunity to get underground with dig."_ Ash commanded Pikachu. He dove back to the ground and soon the only sign he had been there was a small hole.

"Now where is it? Be careful Raichu, it could come up anywhere. When it comes up I want you to use slam." The Raichu watched carefully but saw no sign of a coming attack, this only served to confuse it and its trainer.

"_Now Pikachu, come up and use iron tail."_ Ash said, maintaining an impassive expression so his opponent had no idea of his plan. Pikachu suddenly jumped out of the ground almost right on top of Raichu, he swung his glowing tail and struck home which sent Raichu flying across the field.

"Raichu, use thunder at full power." An enormous lightning bolt quickly covered the distance to Pikachu and struck home. Pikachu cried out in pain from the attack making Ash realise just how strong Raichu was.

"_Damn, I'm stronger than this. Come on Ash, let's take this guy down!"_ Pikachu said to his trainer making the young Ketchum chuckle mentally.

"_Alright, but don't push yourself too hard."_ Ash had stopped paying attention for only a moment after Pikachu's comment but that was enough for him to miss Raichu charging up a hyper beam. The only reason he did notice was that it hit Pikachu in the centre of his stomach, hurling him against the arena wall. When the smoke cleared Pikachu was on the floor.

"Pikachu is una…" Was all the referee got out before he was interrupted.

"Pika!" Pikachu suddenly shouted, stunning everyone. Even Ash's friends had thought Pikachu was finished after that attack, though Ash had known better. Ash laughed as he had heard what Pikachu had really said. _"In your dreams!"_

"_Alright Pikachu, let's show them what it really means to use a thunder attack."_ With that said, Pikachu took a moment to gather all his power before he released it in an almighty lightning bolt which tore the field up as it made its way to Raichu. After it struck, Raichu was left fried and unconscious while there was a line of rubble down the centre of the battlefield.

"You should get some rest now Pikachu, that obviously exhausted you. Besides, it's her turn now and you know what she'll be like if she doesn't get to come out." Pikachu nodded his assent and returned to his place on Ash's shoulder. "I choose you, Mew!" Ash called out the small pink legendary once again.

* * *

"Okay, so I knew Pikachu was powerful before but now he must be legendary standard." Misty said in awe.

"Well, Ash did tell me that occasionally Pikachu was able to draw with Mew so it probably is, especially as Ash has been training Mew to be stronger since he got it back then." The Professor explained. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Pikachu can give Ash's last Pokémon today a run for his money."

"There I would agree with you, though I'm not sure I want to see just how strong it has become these days given how strong it was before." Misty speculated, shivering at the prospect of how strong Ash's final Pokémon today must be. "What could Adam possibly use that would be strong enough to fight Mew and reach that one though?"

* * *

"Already, what's he up to? I thought he'd save it for last, he must be bluffing to try and make me think he has something stronger." Adam whispered before speaking more loudly. "It's time Umbreon, do your best."

"_Start things off quickly with signal beam then use teleport to get in close and strike with drain punch."_ Ash ordered before Adam could initiate whatever strategy Ash knew he must have planned. Mew obliged, firing the rainbow-coloured beam from an orb in her mouth. The attack hit home and sent Umbreon flying, it landed on its back giving Mew all the opportunity she needed to teleport close and punch it with a fist surrounded by spiralling green and yellow energy.

The two attacks dealt a substantial amount of damage but Umbreon still had a ways to go before he would be out of the match. Adam quickly saw the opportunity to put his plan into action. "Umbreon, use mean look now!" Umbreon's head snapped up and it looked Mew in the eyes. Umbreon's eyes glowed purple as they stared into Mew's, locking her into the battle. "Now hit it with foul play before it can get away." Umbreon quickly tackled Mew with the dark-type attack and dealt a substantial amount of damage before Mew withdrew to her original location on the field.

"_Mew, use hail and then attack with blizzard."_ Ash commanded and Mew floated higher up in the air with its body glowing blue. Soon snow began falling with the occasional large hail stone dropping towards the Pokémon. Mew simply kept teleporting out of the way but Umbreon could do little to avoid the majority of them. Mew suddenly appeared right behind it and a stream of super-chilled air left her mouth with several small snowballs mixed in with it. The attack drove Umbreon to the floor but it refused to give in this soon.

"Use dark pulse Umbreon!" Adam called and the beam of purple rings shot towards Mew.

"_Use barrier to deflect that attack then teleport up close for a brick break."_ Umbreon's attack almost made contact but was deflected at the last moment, harmlessly forming a crater in the battlefield. Mew then disappeared and reappeared in her signature pair of pink flashes. When she reappeared by Umbreon she delivered a punch with a glowing white fist which finished Umbreon off once and for all. _"It's annoying that I can't let you take a rest and get your 'brother' out here because of that mean look. I really wanted him to have a chance to battle today but I can't let that make me go easy on Adam."_

"_Yeah, he'll probably get all huffy if he doesn't get a chance to show off to everyone."_ Mew said playfully.

"_No Mew, that would be you. He would be more likely to end up a little dejected as he wanted to prove himself to the world but didn't get given the chance to do so."_ Ash countered and she had no answer to that.

"You did well Umbreon so take a good rest. You know Ash, this last Pokémon is my strongest and you're the first person to actually force me to use it for two years now so congratulations. Come on out and give it your all, Kadabra!" Adam called as he released his final Pokémon while Ash was stuck with Mew.

"Start off with psybeam Kadabra." Adam called, beginning the battle once again.

"_Dodge that with teleport for now. I get the feeling that thing is stronger than it looks at the moment so let's find out just how strong it is with its next attack."_ Mew quickly teleported out of the path of the multi-coloured beams that shot from Kadabra's eyes. It was a good thing she did as a small explosion was witnessed where she had been sat only moments before.

"Kadabra, use psyshock!"

"_Counter with your own Mew. Then hit it with shadow ball and follow up with dark pulse. That should do some real damage."_ The balls of light blue and purple light met midfield and exploded. Using the smoke as cover, Mew launched a ball of black energy straight at Kadabra. The attack made contact and sent the psi Pokémon staggering back. Mew quickly followed up with the dark type attack but Adam acted quickly.

"Teleport! Then hit it with a barrage of shadow balls." He cried out and Kadabra obliged, disappearing and reappearing before launching shadow ball after shadow ball at Mew. She was sent crashing into the floor as she took a large amount of damage. It wasn't enough though.

"_Mew, send those shadow balls back with psychic."_ Both Mew and the incoming shadow balls were surrounded by a pink aura of psychic energy before the shadow balls flew back the way they came and struck Kadabra instead. Both Pokémon slowly clambered back to their feet, refusing to give up. But then came the last thing Ash needed, the tell-tale white glow of evolution. Soon, an Alakazam stood in front of everyone and it was a strong one.

"Use signal beam Alakazam!" Adam called.

"_Dodge that Mew."_ But Mew was not quite quick enough and the rainbow-coloured beam sent her crashing into the wall of the arena. She struggled back to her feet, refusing to give up but it was too much and she fell forwards as she was finished.

"Yes!" Adam crowed, delighted at this result. "We beat his strongest Pokémon. Come on Alakazam, if we keep this up we can win."

"Return Mew." Ash said with a grin on his face. "Congratulations on beating Mew, Adam, that is a very strong Alakazam. Its attack power is incredible but I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. Mew isn't my strongest Pokémon, her 'brother' is…" The crowds went silent at this revelation unsure of what to make of it.

"You have two Mew?" Adam asked nervously.

"No." Ash replied simply making Adam sigh with relief. "I have Mewtwo." He added, almost as an afterthought making Adam freeze again. "I choose you my friend." Ash yelled as he hurled a pokéball on to the field. It opened to reveal the genetic Pokémon.

* * *

"Well it seems that young Mr Ketchum not only has the legendary Mew but also the recently discovered legendary Mewtwo. This Pokémon is said to be literally one of a kind though the basis of this fact has not been given by the man who published it, Professor Oak." The commentator roared making the crowds go wild in excitement.

Professor Oak sank slightly deeper into his chair as he hoped nobody would notice him while Ritchie looked on in shock, alone. "Wait, how come none of you guys are surprised? Don't tell me you all knew about this." He inquired as he realised he was alone.

"Of course I did, Ash introduced him to me just after he caught him. He's such a nice Pokémon once you get him to open up." Delia said.

"Okay, but what about you guys?" Ritchie responded, looking at Brock, Misty and Gary.

"Well, me and Misty were there when Ash caught Mewtwo, and Mew for that matter, but they didn't want anybody to know so we kept quiet about it all. I don't know about Gary but that's why we both know about Mewtwo." Brock told him as he wondered just how Delia had managed to get Mewtwo to open up.

"Well you remember when I went to talk to Ash the other night? When I got there Mewtwo was out as well so Ash told me a little bit about him before asking me to leave so he could organise a press conference after today's match." Gary informed the others who figured that his explanation made sense and let it go.

* * *

"_Start things off with your shadow ball Mewtwo. Then use psycho cut before it can recover."_ Ash commanded and Mewtwo quickly flung the black ball at Alakazam. It made contact before Alakazam could dodge, as he had been ordered to, and sent him flying across the ground. Mewtwo brought his hands up in front of him and they glowed light blue before several circular blades of psychic energy went flying at the downed psi Pokémon. They too made contact leaving it barely conscious as it struggled back to its feet.

"Alakazam, use psychic to hold it in place while you hit it with a hyper beam." Mewtwo was quickly locked in place on the ground and an orange beam made its way towards him at a fast pace.

"_Break out and send that hyper beam back by using your own psychic."_ The glow surrounding Mewtwo disappeared only to be replaced by a blue aura. The hyper beam was also surrounded by the aura but, unlike Mewtwo, it was turned around and hit Alakazam instead. _"Finish it quickly with shadow ball."_ Ash ordered, saving the Pokémon from any serious injuries by knocking it out with that final attack.

"And with that shadow ball the young Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town becomes this year's Indigo League Champion!" The commentator bellowed as the crowds cheered and cheered in approval.

Both Ash and Adam made their way to the middle of the field where they shook hands. "Congratulations Ash, you deserved to win this." Adam commented.

"Thanks Adam, but it's my Pokémon who deserve the congratulations. After all it was them who did the hard work in the battles, not me."

"_We may have worked hard Ash but we could never have achieved the power we have without you."_ Mewtwo observed much to everyone's shock.

"Mewtwo can talk?" Adam asked in awe. Ash only nodded in response as Mewtwo got annoyed.

"_Honestly, why is it that people always mention the talking? They never seem to notice the fact that I am incredibly powerful simply because I can talk."_ He stated which made Ash roar with laughter.

Once Ash had control of himself he attempted to placate Mewtwo. "Come on Mewtwo, after that show everyone knows just how powerful you are. They won't forget it just because you can talk either."

"_Very well. You should get ready; the reporters will be here soon to demand their press conference."_

Ash groaned. "I completely forgot I agreed to hold a press conference after the match today. This is such a pain in the neck. We better get going before they can get too many questions in their heads. Thanks for the incredible match Adam; you're obviously a good trainer so I hope we get to battle again sometime. Can you take me to the conference room with teleport please Mewtwo?" The only answer anyone got was Ash and Mewtwo disappearing into thin air.

* * *

Ash was now sat at a table in the stadium's conference hall with representatives of many different media companies sat in front of him. Mewtwo was stood behind his left shoulder which Pikachu was sat on while on his other side Mew was riding on his right shoulder with Lucario stood behind him.

"Alright, why don't you ask your question first sir?" Ash said as he pointed to a random reporter in the crowds before him.

"Thank you, I'm from Sinnoh News Net in the Sinnoh region. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I ask how you came to catch not only one, but two, legendary Pokémon? Especially when, and I mean you no insult here, you were practically unheard of before this tournament." The man said.

"No insult taken, after all it is true and I only started my journey a year ago. In fact, as today is the first of April it's exactly one year today since I started my journey with Pikachu as my partner. All I will tell you about Mew and Mewtwo joining me is that it was just that. The two of them asked me to take them with me for reasons I will not divulge and I did not have to battle them to capture them, I will say that I suspect this will never happen again but who knows. Maybe someone else will someday go through the same experience. Now you sir." Ash replied and pointed to another reporter.

"As it is said that Mewtwo is the only Pokémon of its kind we can assume that you are the only trainer ever to have one. Therefore, do you have any information on why it is the only one of its species?" The woman asked.

"I do know why he is but I am not willing to divulge that information and I can assure you that no matter how hard you try to investigate you will not be able to find it out. It is a secret that must be closely guarded for his own sake. Now you."

"As you don't seem to be willing to shed any light on information about your two legendary Pokémon perhaps you could tell us how you came to catch a Lucario and a Shelgon as neither is native to this region?"

"Well, the Charizard I used in my final battle was going through a rather long rebellious stage and so I took him out to try and get through to him and start working together. While we were out we came across this Lucario, a Riolu then, being attacked viciously by Team Rocket and intervened. I was quite badly injured in the incident but once I recovered I played a bit with the Riolu and then he asked to join me so I let him."

"As for Shelgon, well he was just a Bagon when we met and he jumped off a cliff at the Tohjo falls, trying to fly. He would have fallen into the ocean and drowned if I hadn't had my Pidgeot catch him. After that he asked to join me because he could see that my Pokémon were strong and wanted me to train him so he could evolve into a Salamence sooner and be able to fly." Ash continued.

After half an hour of such questions a League official entered the room and asked for Ash to be excused as he had to attend the closing ceremony. The reporters reluctantly agreed, they had hoped that if they asked pointless questions for long enough the boy would let his guard down and they could get some juicy information on the legendaries but it was not to be.

* * *

The closing ceremony was now well underway and Ash was about to be officially crowned the Indigo Conference Champion. Adam Clark had of course been given second place and his opponent in the semi-finals had been given third. The judges had decided that Isabel Lane wasn't as good as him after she was annihilated by Ash, even if it had been at the hands of an angry legendary Pokémon.

"Now, the time has come for the crowning of this year's Indigo Conference Champion!" President Goodshow said to the crowds through a microphone. This was Ash's signal and so he began walking down the entrance to the stadium. "I give to you, Ash Ketchum!" The crowds went wild and the stands shook with their raucous applause.

Ash walked up on to the small stage where he was given a large golden trophy to commemorate his win. "Thank you President Goodshow. It was an honour to participate as I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a Pokémon master and this is the first step on the road to that goal." He said as he took the trophy from the short man and stepped up on the podium between the other two. He raised the trophy high above his head eliciting more cheers from the crowds around him.

He smiled and had a few tears of joy in his eyes as he knew that he would never forget this day. He knew he couldn't have done this alone so he sent a telepathic message to his top six who were still with him. _"Thank you, this means so much to me but I could never have made it this far without all of you, and everyone else too."_ Soon the ceremony was over and Ash made his way outside to his friends and family.

* * *

"Well Ash, I guess you really are a better trainer than me. I can't compare to you any more so all I really have to say is congratulations." Gary said, shocking everyone with his speech. It may have been short but it was straight to the point and showed that he now had a great deal of respect for Ash.

"Hold it right there Gary." Ash retorted. "Just because I won a tournament doesn't mean you can't compare to me, I know that you have it in you to become as strong a trainer as me. Maybe you won't get a legendary Pokémon but that doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to defeat them. You could still beat me if you work hard so don't you go quitting on me now, I wouldn't be where I am without the challenge you always posed to me." Everyone was even more surprised that Ash was willing to admit that he had relied on Gary to become the man he was today as it was something he never would have considered in the past.

"If you put it like that then I guess I don't really have much choice but to listen. Thanks for the pep talk Ash but I think I'm going to need to take a little time out to get stronger and figure things out for myself." Gary told him.

"Well you two, the Johto League starts the gym challenge time in a couple of days but the conference isn't until about the same time the Indigo Conference started, only next year, so you could both afford to take some time out and think things over before tackling that challenge if you want to." Professor Oak suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea to me Gramps. I guess I'll be on my way then, see you around Ash."

"See you Gary, hopefully at the Johto League." Ash replied as his friend and rival walked away.

"Well Ash, you might see me there too, though I think I'll start heading that way now so I can be sure to get a good start." Ritchie explained before taking his own leave of the group.

"Great work honey, the Professor and I are going to head home now to organise the party back at Pallet Town so we can be ready when you make it back." Delia said.

"Ok Mom, Professor Oak. I guess I'll see you when I get back." He told her before turning to the other two. "Well guys, I don't know what the next step from here is for me so are you guys going to stick around or head on home. I'm sure you guys must miss your families."

"We do Ash, but there is no way I'm leaving you yet and I bet Misty feels the same way." Brock said as he turned to her. The two boys were surprised to find her fidgeting and in silence. Suddenly she dove at Ash and embraced him in a tight hug before planting her lips on his cheek for a moment. After that she quickly pulled back and looked at the floor nervously.

"Of course I'll come Ash." She said.

"Misty, you might not want to after this. I'm sorry, I've known how you felt since I first met you again on the plateau and I don't feel the same way. I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I had hoped that if I just acted dense you might lose interest and not get hurt, but now it seems there is no other way."

When he said that tears sprung to her eyes and she ran off, he knew there was nothing he could do or say at this moment to lessen the pain so he just let her go. "You did the right thing young man. But if you're done with the conversations could you come with me. You see, the winner of the tournament also gets some prizes but we like to keep them secret so I need to talk with you in private while I give them to you." President Goodshow's voice said from behind him.

"Sure, I don't see any reason why not. Do you think you could wait for me around here Brock?"

"That's fine, go get your prizes. You earned them fair and square." Brock told him which was all Ash needed to hear before he walked off with President Goodshow to collect his winnings.

* * *

"Well Ash, please step into my office." Charles said as he opened a door to a comfortable but official looking room. Ash accepted the offer and strode into the room, settling in a deep cushioned chair on one side of a desk, President Goodshow stood opposite him.

"So you said I had won some things by winning the League? I've never even heard rumours of other prizes after winning the league which I would have expected to even if you keep it secret." Ash questioned.

"Well, I have a lot of people in the right places." The old man said, chuckling lightly. "Anyway, there are a few prizes for you. The first is one that we actually don't mind you letting people know about as it is something we are planning to offer as a prize in all the leagues after this one. By only mentioning this as well it will hopefully put people off the fact that there are other prizes. That first prize is an expansion to your carry limit, you have two options. The first is being called the pokébox and it is a system that can store all your Pokémon in individual capsules in a virtual world, similar to a pokéball, at once so you can take them all with you."

As he said that he pulled a cube just too big to fit in a single hand out from under his desk. "The other option is simple increase in the number of pokéballs you can carry. Considering the skills you have displayed I think a three team limit would be suitable and I could give you an extra four slots for your two partners beside you and your two legendary Pokémon. That would come to a total of twenty-two. Which would you like?"

"I'd like the second option sir." Ash answered, surprising the man.

"Really Ash? I would have thought you would like to have all your Pokémon with you at once."

"Well I would, but I wouldn't be able to spend time with them all when I'm on the move and I doubt I'd be able to find the space to let them out so it wouldn't really be fair to them in my opinion. Also, if it stores them in individual capsules like a Pokeball then they'll only be able to socialise with each when I let them out but if I get a simple carry limit increase then they can still socialise with each other back at Professor Oak's lab when they're not with me. Though to be honest I bet even having twenty-two with me will be a real handful, maybe I'll leave some slots empty for new Pokemon." He finished with a chuckle.

"Well when you put it that way I can completely understand your reasoning, it's been a while since I saw a trainer so concerned with his Pokémon's happiness. Your final opponent, Adam Clark, cares almost as much but he's not quite there. On to the second prize then, this one is a simple monetary prize, though it is quite a sum. You will receive a total of one million pokédollars to a bank account of your choosing."

"One million?!" Ash exclaimed. "But that's a huge amount; I can't believe that you just have that much to give away."

"Well actually we do. Even if you only consider the match videos we raise much more than that. Think about it, to most people a couple of pokédollars for the footage of a match isn't a lot. But when there are two hundred and fifty five matches and several million people wanting to watch most of them it totals up to a very large number. Besides, I bet we'll make at least a million from your last match alone."

"I guess you have a point there…"

"Your final prize is this, a pokégram." The small man said as he pulled a small computer tablet from under the desk. "The pokégram contains several things all in one. The name is derived from the fact that most of its functions use the holographic projection system as a display while the tablet simply acts like a keyboard and mouse. It contains the data of a national pokédex, a videophone, a GPS and map, a data recorder and finally, one of the most important features, a mobile pokéball transporter."

"Seriously, all that in one? How much is that thing worth?"

"Well it's worth just under a thousand pokédollars which is surprisingly cheap considering the technology it contains. The reason it has so much is that it was originally designed for the use of researchers in the field, I'm sure you can see why they would need most of it. Why don't I give you a demonstration of the hologram function as well?"

He pointed the camera on the back of the device at Lucario and suddenly a projector on the side of the tablet swung round. It pointed off to the side where there was some empty space and a phantom image of a Lucario appeared, though this one was shown in the normal colours of the species. It then proceeded to read the pokédex entry aloud while it was displayed visually beside the Lucario.

"Okay, that is pretty impressive. Especially as, going on what you've said, it does that with all the other features too. By the way, I know you asked me to keep these prizes quiet but I doubt I'll be able to keep it from my friends and family so I hope you won't mind if I tell them."

"It is indeed Ash and I have no objection to that, the main reason we don't want most people knowing about it is that we don't want them participating just to win money. We want them to participate for the love of battling otherwise it isn't worth holding the tournament."

"That makes sense and I'm with you on the battling front too so don't worry about the secret getting out."

"Well I think that's all then." As he finished saying this there was a knock at the door. "Oh of course, how could I forget that he would come to meet you? I must be getting on in years more than I thought."

* * *

Back outside Brock was waiting for Ash to return when he spotted Misty walking back over to him. It was clear that she had been crying quite a lot and Brock wasn't sure what to say so he just spat out the first thing that came to mind. "Are you alright Misty?"

"No, not really but I'll get better. Please don't tell me Ash has left already, I wanted to talk to him now so we could sort things out."

"Do you really think he'd do that to you Misty? He may not love you as you love him but he still loves you as a friend and Ash never abandons a friend in pain. President Goodshow asked to talk to him, something about prizes, I'm sure he'll be back fairly soon."

"Prizes? I thought the trophy was the only prize so what else is he getting?"

"Beats me, I thought the trophy was all there was as well. It must be pretty secret if even the gym leaders weren't told though."

* * *

In the office President Goodshow spoke to the person on the other side of the door. "Come on in my friend, it's been a while hasn't it?"

The door opened and in walked a man wearing a black and red shirt and trousers as well as a cape that was black on the back and red inside. His hair was also red and Ash had to wonder why this guy seemed to like the colour so much. "Thank you Charles and it certainly has been quite a while. I assume you know why I am here?"

"Yes, I know why you're here Lance."

"Wait, Lance… But that means you're…" Ash couldn't believe what was happening, if this man truly was who Ash believed him to be he was meeting a childhood hero for the first time.

"Yes, I am Lance the champion of the joint Kanto and Johto elite four. I came here because I wanted to meet you and speak to you in person." The man finished Ash's statement for him, revealing his full identity.

"Wow, I'm honoured. I've looked up to you ever since I was a kid so it feels weird to have you wanting to talk to me and not the other way around."

"Well I'm honoured that you see me that way and I can understand how you feel. I felt the same way when I was first approached by my predecessor. I want to congratulate you on your victory over Adam, I had thought for a while that he might be elite four material in the future and now I'm sure he will be, the same goes for you though I won't make the offer yet and you'll have to accept it anyway so you don't have to take the challenge if you decide you just want to settle down and have a quiet life in the future."

Ash was simply awestruck, not only was his childhood hero praising him. He was also saying that one day Ash might be at least nearly as good as him. "Th-thank you sir." He managed to stutter before he shut his mouth so as not to embarrass himself further.

"There's no need to be so formal Ash, you can call me Lance. I did have a few questions I want to ask you before I have to take my leave so would you mind if we got straight to the point?" Lance asked as he took a seat himself.

"I don't mind, after all I'm sure you're a really busy person. What did you want to know?"

"Well I was wondering if you might be willing to tell me how you came to meet Mew and Mewtwo."

"I want to but it isn't my decision alone, it's up to them too so come on out you two." Ash said as he called out the Pokémon in question. When they appeared Mew flew around the room inquisitively, looking for things she could use as toys. Mewtwo on the other hand stood perfectly still by Ash, waiting for whatever might come next. Ash had a quick conversation with the two, getting Mew to settle down and explaining what had been asked of them.

"_Very well. I am not willing to go too deep in my explanation but I will tell you more than the press as you seem trustworthy and are a rather important figure. I was created by Team Rocket in an attempt to produce a clone of Mew that was even more powerful, supposedly the most powerful Pokémon of all. But they mistreated me and used me like a tool so I decided that I would destroy all humans and the Pokémon that served them alike."_

"_I invited several trainers to the island I had set up home on and challenged them, defeating them all with ease. Eventually a large battle began and Mew arrived sparking a fight between the two of us. That fight only ended when Ash sacrificed his very life to protect the Pokémon, the only reason he is alive today is that all of the Pokémon there, myself and Mew included, cried for him. Our tears restored the essence of his life and he was reanimated. His sacrifice showed me that there were decent humans and that there was more to life than I had previously realised. Hence I joined Ash; I think Mew just thought it would be fun though."_ Mewtwo told everyone present, sighing as he explained Mew's reasons for joining Ash and making Ash shiver as he remembered his death.

"I guess you really can talk for yourself and that certainly sounds like a painful experience for all of you. I can understand your hatred of humans from that and I can see that Ash found that an extremely painful time so I won't ask for further details. That brings me on to my next point a bit though. I saw some of your matches, the last ones in particular and noticed your psychic aura the other day. I have only ever heard of it being a single colour before yet yours was both yellow and blue, any chance you could explain?"

"It was? I never even noticed to be honest."

"_Ah, I completely forgot to talk to you about it!"_ Lucario exclaimed, though only Ash and the Pokémon could understand him. _"The blue wasn't the manifestation of your psychic powers, it was your aura. I think the mass of emotions you were feeling at the time must have triggered a minor awakening of it, resulting in the blue mixed in with your psychic aura."_

Ash relayed what Lucario had told him and answered a few more questions about his abilities before the last question came. "So Ash, what do you plan to do now?" Lance inquired.

"To be completely honest I'm not sure. I know that I'm going to take a couple of days out to rest at home and I'm also going to participate in the Johto League but I don't want to head to Johto just yet so I'm not quite sure."

"Well, maybe you should challenge the Orange League in the meantime. There are four gyms that test your skills working with your Pokémon rather than just battling. If you beat them all then you can challenge the leader of the group in a full six on six battle, I should tell you as well that he hasn't been beaten since he became the Orange League champion so he's definitely tough. I know him personally too and can tell you that you'll like the guy and give him a good battle, so that's my recommendation." Lance suggested as he took on a distant look. Ash assumed he was remembering his meetings with the leader of the Orange League as he began speaking, snapping Lance out of his reverie.

"That sounds like it could be fun and I can't think of anything better so I'll give it a shot. I think I better leave now though as Brock is probably wondering where I am. I have been gone quite a while after all."

"That's quite alright Ash, I'm sure you want to hit the road again before night fall as well so you should get on your way." President Goodshow said, surprising Ash as he had almost forgotten the old man was there.

"Well, I'm not sure I'll be going anywhere until I find out what happened to Misty but thanks anyway. See you in a year President Goodshow, I hope we meet again too Lance." With his goodbyes finished Ash walked back to the area he had left Brock at.

* * *

Ash was shocked when he arrived as he found not only Brock but Misty as well. If the silence between the two had been awkward before it was nothing compared to how it was now that Ash had arrived. "I don't know what to say Misty." Ash said truthfully as he looked at her, noticing her puffy and red eyes which made him feel even worse than before.

"You don't have to say anything Ash. I'm glad that you were brave enough to tell me the truth rather than just keep up the act and leave me hanging. But I've thought about what you said and what I want to do and made a decision." She replied, leaving Ash to wonder on what her decision would be.

"What did you decide to do then Misty?" Ash dared to ask after a few seconds of very tense silence.

"I'm going to keep travelling with you, you might not see me that way but it doesn't mean we can't be friends. Besides, by the time I'm finished you will love me as more than a friend so I'm not giving up just yet." Ash was glad that she still wanted to be friends but a bit disappointed that she still wouldn't give up.

"Well in that case let's get going. My mom said there's going to be a party so we don't want to be late for it." He told the two with a smile before setting off towards home.

* * *

**Okay, I know that my pokégram is a kind of overpowered machine but I couldn't be bothered to have to give Ash all the other things as well as his déx, it's just too much work.**

**As always, I look forward to any reviews you guys might have. Let me know if you have any suggestions too.**


	7. Off to Orange Island Adventures

**Author's Note**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, just like almost everybody else on this dreadful planet.**

**Hello again all. Thanks for all the reviews as always, it's nice to know what people think.**

**Now a couple of people have, at points, brought up the pokéshipping and when will Cynthia appear points so I will answer them firmly now.  
Cynthia will appear next chapter as a recurring character for a while, disappear briefly, and then return for a while before leaving for a substantial period of time.  
On the subject of pokéshipping. I have no dislike for pokéshipping at all, I simply believe that over the majority of the time they knew each other Misty acted more like a sister than a girl who loved him. Hence I am using other characters that I would prefer and feel able to write here. That does not mean that the possibility of Misty appearing as a love interest in future fics written by me is not present, I simply feel that I would have to start at the beginning for a fic with such a relationship. And I am definitely considering writing at least one fiction from that point so it might happen.**

**Now that I have dealt with those issues here are the speech types and on with the story.  
"Normal Speech"  
_"Telepathic Speech"  
'Private thoughts'  
_'Quoting Someone/Something'**

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Off to Orange Island Adventures**

Ash was now back at Pallet Town stood on a stage with Professor Oak and Delia stood next to him. In front of him was every inhabitant of the small town, despite its size there were still a fair few and Ash would have rather faced Mewtwo in a rage again than give a speech to all the expectant faces below him. Because of that he decided to keep it short and to the point.

"I'm very happy to be back home and to everyone who supported me throughout the Pokémon League I just want to say thank you very much." He said and Pikachu and Lucario quickly added their own thanks, though once again Ash was the only one who could understand them.

"I think I speak for us all when I say thanks to you Ash. You represented us very well and really put Pallet on the map. I propose a toast to our new champion." Professor Oak said to the crowds, quite unlike Ash in that he was much more confident. Everyone present raised a glass to Ash and quickly took a sip.

"We also owe Professor Oak a big thank you for hosting us here today so thank you too." His mother said and everyone cheered their agreement. "Now, let's start the party."

Now that the speeches were over Ash made his way down to his friends, thanking many people for their compliments and offers of congratulations along the way. When he got there he had a brief conversation with them before realising that his Pokémon weren't getting to join in the celebrations. He walked over to the edge of the party area before shouting loudly with his mind. _"Come and join the party everyone!"_ Most of the crowds froze as they heard the voice in their head before realising who it was and looking at Ash incredulously. His Pokémon soon came charging round the corner of the lab to join him and he released the few he had on him.

Soon all the Pokémon were a part of the games with children climbing on them or chasing them around. Ash watched them and was happy to see that even Mewtwo was playing with them easily. _'He's certainly changed. Just a few months ago he would have happily destroyed them all but now he's playing with them just like I would, and that's saying something.'_ He thought as he watched to make sure none of the others were being too mischievous all the while.

After a while a familiar voice called Ash's name. "Hey Ash! It's certainly been a while; you've got really tough since I last saw ya." Ash quickly tried to find the source of the voice and eventually succeeded.

"Anthony, what are you doing here?" He asked, surprised to find the man so far from his home.

"Well Ash, I saw your battles in the Indigo League and thought it was time to return an old friend to ya. When he agreed I came here to Pallet and found ya."

"Really, he wanted to come back and join me again?"

"He sure did, I think he's wanted to join you again ever since our last tournament. It was the Kanto Regional P1 Grand Prix and he wiped the floor with the other competitors. The only thing left for 'im now is to take part in the national tournament and he'll have reached the top, becoming the strongest fighting Pokémon there is. I can't take him there myself as it's held in another region so I think he should join you again. So will you take 'im?"

"Sure I will." Ash replied excitedly. "Plus, I'm going to keep on travelling so maybe I'll come across the national tournament someday and we can win it together, just like our first tournament."

"Here he is then Ash." Anthony said as he handed over the pokéball containing Ash's old friend. "Well, I'd better be going. I don't want to make Rebecca and her mother worry again." He told Ash with a wink before he walked away.

A moment later Professor Oak walked over and noticed the pokéball in Ash's hand. "Ash, who's in that pokéball? I thought all your Pokémon were out already."

"Oh, someone I met a while back just came by to drop off an old friend who wanted to join me again. Why don't you come on out and say hello to everyone Primeape." Ash said as he threw the pokéball into the air. The pig monkey Pokémon materialised, with a large golden belt wrapped around his waist to signify it winning the P1 championship, before the pair. When it saw Ash it dived on him and started crushing the air out of his lungs with a tight hug, showing that it was definitely happy to be back.

"Ah, I see. So your Primeape decided to re-join you. Do you have any idea how strong it might be now?"

"Well apparently he breezed through the regional P1 tournament, that's how he got the belt I guess, so I'd bet he could at least match Hitmonlee. That's a point Primeape, I've got a lot of new Pokémon to introduce you to, I'll explain the story behind them all later when we can get some time just me and all you Pokémon." Ash then lead Primeape over to all his other Pokémon, Brock and Misty saw Primeape and came over to welcome it back home. Ash soon found that he would have quite a handful though as the moment he introduced Primeape to Hitmonlee they formed an intense rivalry, the glares they were giving each other even made a few people back away as they thought a fight might break out.

Ash just laughed it off and calmed the two down before continuing with the introductions. He knew that the new rivalry would be perfect as it would only drive the two to train harder and become stronger than one another. In a way they were just like him and Gary, only he and Gary hadn't been quite so ferocious with each other. Once the introductions were done everyone got back to enjoying the party which went on till late in the evening.

* * *

Once the rest of the town had gone home Ash, Misty, Brock, Delia and all of Ash's Pokémon helped Professor Oak tidy up after the party. When they had finished they took a break in the ranch's fields. "So Ash, do you know what you're going to do now or have you not decided yet?" Oak asked and everyone waited for his reply with baited breath.

"Well, I was told that the Orange League was an interesting challenge and that the champion of the league was really strong so I would be guaranteed a good fight, because of that I've decided to participate in it." His Pokémon cheered excitedly at the prospect of heading out for a new adventure.

"That sounds like a fine idea young man but might I ask who recommended it to you?"

"Lance, the elite four champion recommended it." Everyone froze at this point. "Before you ask how I met him, it was when I was given my prizes by President Goodshow. Lance had a few things he wanted to ask me about and when I told him I didn't know what I'd do next he recommended the Orange League."

"Wow, to actually speak to Lance would be a real honour." Brock said.

"You got that right Brock, especially as he's been my hero ever since I was little. He was the first Pokémon master I remember hearing about so he's almost like my goal I suppose."

"I think it's great that you got to meet him then honey but I didn't know you got any other prizes, what were they?" Delia asked her son.

"Oh, that's right. I never actually got round to telling you any of them."

"Well given the data I received on my computer shortly before the party I already know one of them." Oak stated simply.

"I guess that means it's come into effect then. Well, overall I got three prizes. The first was an increase in my carry limit; I was given two options and chose one where I would be able to carry twenty two of my Pokémon with me at any time."

"Twenty two? Misty and I have got an increased carry limit because we're gym leaders but that's only twelve so how did you get twenty two?" Brock interrupted.

"Well, consider that to even enter the conference you have to have beaten all the gym leaders therefore it would be assumed that whoever wins the tournament must be a better trainer than them. I guess that is why there's the extra team's worth that most people will be offered now. I got an extra four on top of that so I can have my three teams and still have Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo with me without any trouble."

"I guess that does make some sense." Brock said thoughtfully. "Oh well, you said there were other prizes though, what were they?"

"Oh yeah, well the next one was probably the most shocking as it turns out I've won a million pokédollars so we should find it easier on the road from now on." Nobody said anything at this point as they were stunned by the amount he had won. He took this opportunity to take his new pokégram out of his bag to show everyone. "This is the last prize, a pokégram. For those of you who don't know what it is, after all I didn't when I got it, it is a multi-purpose tablet. The holographic projector creates the display while the tablet acts as keyboard and mouse to allow interaction. It acts as a national pokédex, video phone, GPS and map, data recorder and even allows pokéball transportation on the move. Not bad eh?"

Everyone's mouths were hung open so far open a Pidgeotto could build a nest in them without any trouble. "Not bad doesn't even cover it Ash, this is incredible."

"I suppose that incredible is a much more appropriate word but you can't let anyone know about these things. President Goodshow wants the money and pokégram to be kept secret so people don't enter the tournament simply for the winnings. The limit increase is fine to go public with but that doesn't mean I'm going to start going around boasting about it otherwise it will draw more attention to me which I don't want." He responded and everyone nodded their assent, this may be a pretty major secret to keep but they would do it for the sake of their friend, son in Delia's case, and the League.

* * *

It was the next day and Ash was at the ranch playing with his Pokémon, he thought they deserved a rest after working hard for him during the league. "Hey Ash, the Professor asked to see you inside." Misty told him as she arrived came up next to him.

"Alright, I'll go see him then. Hopefully it won't take too long." It was the work of but a moment to find the Professor once he got inside. "Hey Professor, Misty said you wanted to talk to me so what is it?"

"Ah, Ash. I was hoping to make a request from you; you see I have a colleague in the Orange Islands called Professor Ivy. I received a call from her yesterday stating that she had recently come in to possession of an unusual pokéball. She was unable to learn anything about it and had decided to ask me to take a look so I told her to send it over. But when we tried to transport it nothing happened for some reason, so I want you to go and collect it for me while you're in the area. Would you mind?"

"Of course not Professor, I'm happy to help you. After all it's the least I can do given how well you look after my Pokémon."

"Oh, never mind that it is my job after all. Thank you for agreeing to go though; it should save us a few problems with getting it here. There was something else though." Samuel went over to his desk and pulled four small spheres out of a drawer. "These are for you Ash, they're specially designed pokéballs. They work exactly the same way as a normal pokéball but the colour scheme is different as you can see. There is one each for Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo as they are rather special Pokémon."

"Wow, thanks Professor Oak. I'm sure they'll love them and Pikachu even got over his fear of Pokeballs recently though we still both prefer for him to stay out." Ash took the four pokéballs and looked them over; it was obvious who each belonged to. One was yellow on the top instead of red and had a small black lightning bolt insignia on it. Another was pure white but for the line down the middle that was a silvery metallic colour instead of black. The third was a pure pink pokéball and the last had a purple upper half while the bottom half was a darker shade of the same colour.

"The only other things I have left to ask then are when you'll leave and who you'll take with you?"

"Well I think I'll leave the day after tomorrow and I'm only going to take two teams of Pokémon for now. I'll leave the other slots for Pokémon I catch along the way. Those two teams will contain Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo. I'm sure you already knew that though as I like to have them with me at all times. Other than them I will take Pidgeot and Pidgeotto, my two Charizard, Blastoise, Venusaur, Shelgon and Gyarados for now." Ash answered.

"That sounds like a good idea to me Ash, especially leaving space for new Pokémon as it will be good for you to bond with them quickly once you capture them. I'll make the preparations so that things aren't too hectic on the day as well so you go get some more time in with your Pokémon."

"Thanks Professor, I'll go and let Misty, Brock and the Pokémon know. I'll give these pokéballs to their new occupants too, I'm sure they'll love them." As Professor Oak had nothing else to say Ash went back to his friends and Pokémon and told them the good news. Everybody was happy that some of the Pokémon would be exchanged once in a while and now that Ash had his pokégram that would be a lot easier.

Pikachu, Lucario, Mew and Mewtwo took an instant liking to their new pokéballs as well, insisting that they were more comfortable inside despite what Professor Oak had told him. _'I wonder if there is some psychological cause for that, maybe they find their own colours more comforting. I should mention it to Professor Oak and maybe even look into it myself some time.'_ Ash thought before the lot of them started playing once again.

* * *

It was a couple of days later and Ash was now walking through Pallet Woods with his friends. They were heading for Cape Pallet so they could fly to the Orange Archipelago and start their next journey.

"It sure is quiet in here isn't it? Almost too quiet…" Ash said and the moment the words left his mouth he picked up on a massive spike of hostile intent. He pushed Misty away as she had been right next to him and the hostility was all directed at him. He dropped to the floor himself as a flock of Spearow and what seemed to be their leader, a Fearow, flew straight through the spot he had just been stood in. When they missed they quickly returned to a high altitude, moving out of the reach of any retaliatory attacks.

"Why would all those Pokémon just attack us out of the blue like that? It's really unusual even for Spearow and Fearow." Brock wondered.

"I don't know… Unless… Of course, that must be it. That Fearow must be the Spearow I angered on my first day as a trainer and now it wants revenge, that's why it's so angry at me. The others are just following it because it's their leader." Ash said as he realised that he was the reason they were attacking but then he remembered something; that he had promised to one day catch them all. Perhaps that day had come, he was about to find out as they were closing in on him again.

"Pikachu and Lucario, I want you guys to scatter the Spearow and keep them at bay while I fight that Fearow with Pidgeotto. He didn't get a chance to battle in the league but an aerial battle like this is perfect for him. Come on out Pidgeotto." Ash told the others, explaining his plan before going on the offensive the moment the Fearow had flown by again.

"Pidgeotto, hit it with a gust and then a wing attack." The small bird quickly flapped its wings and created a strong air current which struck the larger bird hard, forcing it slightly lower to the ground. He then dived at the Fearow with his wings spread wide and glowing white, the attack connected and sent Fearow crashing to the ground for a few moments. But Fearow took flight once more and used a quick attack to position itself right above Pidgeotto.

From its new position Fearow launched a point blank hyper beam which made Pidgeotto plummet towards the ground. Ash was fortunately able to get below and catch Pidgeotto, preventing it from sustaining any serious injury. "I guess that Fearow is tougher than I thought if he can do that to you. After all you're just as strong as most of my other Pokémon. Why don't you take a rest Pidgeotto?" Ash said as he pulled out a pokéball in order to recall it. High in the air Fearow was crowing triumphantly but this triumph was to be short lived.

"_No Ash!"_ Pidgeotto said, quite forcefully. _"I want to be the one to teach that Fearow a lesson. It was insulting you the whole time while we were up there and I'm not going to let it get away with that. For a while now I've been resisting something in our training because I couldn't see the reason to go through with it. But now the time has come, it is time for me to evolve and defend your honour."_ With that said Pidgeotto scrambled off of Ash and raised his wings behind him as the white light of evolution engulfed him.

"Pidgeotto, or Pidgeot now I guess… You don't have to go so far just because he was insulting me." Ash all but whispered as a few tears came to his eyes at the show if his Pokémon's devotion to him.

"_Yes I do Ash. You have always treated all Pokémon well, not just your own. You always try to protect them from injury even at risk of injuring yourself and treat us as your family when even most Pokémon do not do so. You deserve better than to be insulted by an arrogant fool of a Pokémon like that Fearow so I will show it just what your Pokémon are made of. I would like to finish this battle completely alone, without even any commands if you will let me."_ He replied as the glow faded to reveal the large and majestic bird Pokémon.

"Alright then Pidgeot, I'm putting all my faith in you. Let's catch that guy and prove our strength." Ash said before stepping back to make room for Pidgeot to take off. When he proceeded to stay silent as Pidgeot flew towards Fearow Misty questioned him.

"Are you using telepathic commands again Ash?"

"No, Pidgeot wants to win this battle completely on his own so he asked me not to give commands and I intend to respect that wish." Ash said as the two Pokémon started battling each other once more. Pidgeot easily dodging every attack Fearow made.

"Really, why would he do that?" Misty inquired.

"Well he said that the Fearow was insulting me and he wanted to defend my honour. He's always been loyal so I'm not surprised that he was angry with it but I am surprised that he decided to evolve now in order to do it. He even told me he had been resisting evolution as he couldn't see any point to it at the time but now he does. To be honest I don't know what to say to him."

"Wow, I've never heard of a Pokémon going so far for its trainer." Brock commented, slightly awed by the bond Ash had with his Pokémon.

Up in the air Fearow was attacking Pidgeot relentlessly but Pidgeot just kept avoiding it with ease. Pidgeot finally decided to go on the offensive, his wings glowed a light blue as he began to flap them with great power. The gusts of wind he created made the trees bend as they smashed into Fearow and did some real damage, almost knocking it out with that single attack.

"That's hurricane Ash, only really strong flying types can use that move." Brock explained. Ash knew that this was his likely to be his best opportunity and threw a pokéball as the beak Pokémon got close to the ground. The pokéball shook a few times before it pinged to signify a successful capture.

The moment the Spearow that Pikachu and Lucario were fighting off saw their leader get captured, they fled. They flew off in all different directions and when they had gone over the distant horizon a flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto took to the skies. The Pokémon circled around the skies cheerfully before spotting their saviour, Pidgeot and moving to fly alongside him. It seemed that Pidgeot was making several friends amongst them but he soon landed in front of Ash again, ready to leave as he knew they had places to be.

The flock of its pre-evolutions all looked a little disheartened at this but Ash had an idea. "Hey, if you guys start living at the edge of the forest near the town then Pidgeot will be able to visit you easily whenever he's back at the lab or when we come home for a while." The Pokémon were delighted by this idea and when Pidgeot agreed that he would come and visit often if they did so they quickly took off in that direction, leaving Ash and the others to continue on their way.

* * *

A couple of hours later the group had arrived at Cape Pallet and it was time to head to their first destination, Valencia Island.

"Alright then. I choose you, Pidgeot, Pidgeot and Charizard." Ash yelled, calling out the three Pokémon. "I had been planning to fly to Valencia on you, Charizard and Pidgeot, along with my other Charizard but now that you've evolved Pidgeot I think you probably want to test your abilities. I know you can get us at least that far so I'll let you test them now."

"You know Ash, that was kind of confusing with you calling both of them Pidgeot, maybe you should think about giving one of them a nickname some time so you can differentiate between the two." Brock said after managing to figure out who was being referred to at each point.

"_I wouldn't mind that Ash."_ Commented his recently evolved Pidgeot.

"Alright then, I'll try and think of one while we're flying so I can find one that actually suits you and not just call you Brian or something." They all laughed at the idea of Ash choosing to call out 'Brian' in a battle. It would certainly entertain the crowds, though they might take him a little less seriously after that. "Well then, why don't you ride on Charizard Brock as you're the biggest and Misty, can you fly on my first Pidgeot? Then I can fly with this guy and try to work on a name that suits him."

Everybody agreed so they climbed aboard the Pokémon that would be carrying them and set off across the ocean in the last leg of their journey to the Orange Islands.

* * *

It was morning the following day and the group was on Valencia Island searching for Professor Ivy's laboratory, they had arrived the night before but were too tired to do anything so they rested at the Pokémon Center for the night.

They were now walking down a long lane named Bay View Road and could see the lab at the end of it. They soon arrived and walked into the lobby of the laboratory as Ash called out to the researcher. "Professor Ivy!"

"Hello! Is anybody home!?" Misty yelled when there was no answer. But it was to no avail as she too was met only by silence. The group looked around the room, wondering where the Professor might be as Professor Oak had called ahead to say they would be coming by today.

"The place looks empty…" Ash said but then he felt three people coming up towards them with his psychic powers. The only problem was, they seemed to be coming up through the ground. Then he noticed it, there was the faint outline of a trapdoor under Lucario's feet. "Ah, I see. Lucario, take a step back 'cause you're stood on a trap door."

Everyone looked at the ground and sure enough, there was a trapdoor beneath Lucario. He took a step back and a moment later it was flung open.

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?"

"Who are you?"

With each statement or question a new woman's head appeared from the entrance in the floor. The group were all surprised by their unorthodox welcome and took a moment to recover. "Uh… Hello there. Um… We came here to see Professor Ivy." Brock said as he recovered.

"Yeah, Professor Oak sent us from Pallet Town to pick up something." Ash informed them once he too had gotten over their entrance.

"If you want the Professor…"

"She's in the bay…"

"Working with the Pokémon."

"We'll take you to her right now." Ash and his friends sweat dropped at the three as they said a line each before clasping their hands and saying the last line in perfect unison. With that said the three proceeded to lead them down to a beach and when they got there a Gyarados suddenly reared up out of the water.

"Ah, a Gyarados." Misty almost squealed.

"Don't worry Misty, it doesn't mean us any harm." Ash said, using his abilities to read its basic intent. A purple haired woman suddenly appeared from under the waves next to Gyarados and began petting it.

"Very good Gyarados." She praised as a Cloyster and Poliwhirl surfaced next to her. "I think you're all looking better and stronger every single day."

"I wish she'd train me like that." Brock mumbled as he succumbed to his attractions once again.

"Professor!"

"Three friends of Professor Oak are here to…"

"See ya'!"

The three females finished for each other just as they had before. The Professor looked in their direction and smiled in realisation as she saw the trainers. She quickly climbed on to the back of the Gyarados and had it speed her towards the beach. At the last moment, she jumped off its back and donned a lab coat, thrown by one of her assistants, in mid-air.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Professor Ivy." She introduced herself as the three trainers and their Pokémon looked on, somewhat shocked at how calmly she had arrived at the beach.

* * *

Back at the lab everyone was now gathered around a pokéball transporter upon which sat a gold and silver coloured pokéball.

"Hmm… It kind of reminds me of one of my new pokéballs." Ash observed, his travelling companions nodded while the others cocked their heads in confusion. He showed them his new pokéballs and explained that they were for Pokémon that were special to him, though he failed to mention in which way they were special.

"Well we haven't been able to find out very much about the pokéball at all but I suspect your pokéballs can be electronically transported unlike this one." Professor Ivy pointed out.

"I guess you're right. Hey, it looks like there's some kind of writing on it." Ash noticed.

"Yes, if you look closely you can see the letters 'G' and 'S'. It's for that reason that we decided to call it a GS ball. Why don't we demonstrate what happens when we try to transport it as well, just so you can see?" With that said one of the assistants pressed a button and the transport system activated. When the light of the transporter died down the GS ball hadn't changed in the slightest. Ash had them demonstrate once more but this time he recorded it with his pokégram so he could show Professor Oak once he got back.

"Naturally we've tried to open it. We've tried buzz saws, hammers, crow bars, hack saws, power drills and lasers but none of them worked. We've tried everything but this pokéball has us stumped." Ivy explained, adding to what they knew about the mysterious pokéball before them.

"Um… Did you ever try just calling out a Pokémon from it?" Ash inquired.

"Why no, the thought never even crossed our minds!"

"Well then why don't I try it?" Ash countered, picking it up before speaking again. "I choose you!" He said loudly but to no avail. As he moved to put the GS ball back in its place it came close to his chest and the upper, golden, half lit up like a firework. "Whoa, what's going on!?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is it's more reaction than we ever got out of it." Ivy stated.

Ash felt a tugging sensation around his neck and his rainbow wing suddenly shot out from beneath his shirt and hung in the air, pointing straight at the GS ball. Ash moved the ball away and both reactions died down but when he moved it back towards him they immediately started up again. He placed it back on the podium and turned to Professor Ivy. "Well that doesn't tell us much more about it but it does tell us one thing. That pokéball is somehow connected to Ho-Oh because this is a rainbow wing and that was one strong reaction." Ash analysed.

"That's a rainbow wing?" Professor Ivy queried. "That is quite intriguing but do you realise how lucky you are to have a rainbow wing. Most people would never let something like that out of their sight so whoever you got it from can't have realised what it was."

"I do know how lucky I am. But I didn't get this from a person; it came straight from the source. I saw Ho-Oh on my first day as a trainer and this dropped onto me. Ever since then I have kept it around my neck and I'm not giving it to anyone no matter what they offer me." Ash explained, awing the Professor and her assistants.

"Well, that's quite a development. At least I know the GS ball will be in safe hands though. I wish I could have discovered its secrets myself but I couldn't and if anyone can it's your friend Professor Oak." Once she finished that statement she handed him the GS ball and he tucked it away, safe at the bottom of his bag.

* * *

A phone was ringing beside a computer screen and a man's hand reached out to pick it up. The owner of the hand was wondering just who would be ringing him in the middle of the day, most people left it till the late afternoon or evening.

The man picked up the phone and spoke into it in an exasperated tone. "Hello, Professor Oak speaking."

The video feed suddenly came on and an easily recognisable voice greeted him in its usual cheery manner. "Hello, remember me."

"Oh, Ash. I wasn't expecting to hear from you quite so soon. To what do I owe this pleasure?" The researcher said, greeting him properly now that he knew it was a friend.

"Well, I thought you might like to know that I've got the GS ball now but while we were here we found something quite interesting. To be honest, it probably would never have been found out if you didn't send me to pick it up. The GS ball reacted to my rainbow wing, the top half was glowing really brightly and my rainbow wing was attracted to it like they were opposite poles of a magnet or something." Ash told him.

"Really, that's quite a development young man and you're right about it being unlikely if I had received it any other way. But wait, it almost seems like that could be why it couldn't be transported." The old man speculated. "Think about it, I know it seems impossible but what if the GS ball itself was somehow hoping that I would send you so it could meet with a rainbow wing once more, because of this it altered its own programming to not accept electronic transportation. I think it would be just about feasible to write a program like that into a pokéballs code, though not the hoping for you in particular. I'll have to consider it when I am investigating it myself but I guess this mystery just keeps getting deeper and deeper."

"That certainly sounds like an interesting theory Professor." Said Ivy's voice as she walked on screen and was handed the phone by Ash.

"Ah, Professor Ivy."

"It's good to talk to you again Professor Oak."

"Well I recently read your preliminary report in Pokémon Researchers Monthly on Pokémon adaptive variation as a function of regional distribution and I found it quite persuasive."

"Oh, thank you. I think your article on challenges facing Anthro-Pokémon global cohabitation was absolutely fascinating. Given the success of most of the projects you've worked on I just hope you can find something out about this GS ball."

"Well I'll do my best and thank you for the praise." The doorbell suddenly rang in the background at Professor Oak's lab. "Oh, that must be my pizza; sorry I've got to go." With that said he ended the call.

* * *

"What is it about him and pizza?" Ash wondered aloud back at Ivy's lab.

A while later they were out in the extensive grounds of Professor Ivy's lab. "So this is all part of your laboratory?" Brock inquired, surprised at the vast amounts of land she owned.

"Yes, we need all this space for all the Pokémon because we breed and study so many of them." She answered.

"Ohhh…" Brock mumbled as he looked around, Ash could tell that Brock loved every moment of this. A pretty girl, a wonderful environment and the concept of Pokémon breeding; this was almost like a paradise for Brock.

"Oh. Just look at all these gigantic flowers." Misty exclaimed excitedly.

"Those aren't flowers Misty." Ash said as he yanked her back, a cloud of sleep powder filling the space where her face had just been. Unfortunately for Ash, when he pulled Misty back she ended up falling on to him and they both fell to the floor with her on top.

"Oh Ash, thank you for saving me from being put to sleep. You're so great." She said, giggling as she hugged him tightly and refusing to let go when he tried to get her off him. When he did eventually manage to get out from under her and stand back up she started pouting at him. Professor Ivy watched the scene in confusion while Brock just sighed, it seemed like Misty really wouldn't give up easily.

"Would you mind explaining why that Vileplume is a different colour to those back in Kanto?" Ash asked as he tried to bring some semblance of normality back to the scene. Before she could answer she was cut off by a pair of her assistants.

"It's time for dinner!" They shouted as they charged into the area with a trolley covered in dishes of Pokémon food.

"Hey, I guess you make the food yourselves." Brock observed as the two began handing out the food to the Pokémon.

"Yes, we've created recipes for each type of Pokémon."

Ash had quickly picked up on something as the other Pokémon arrived to eat their food. "So it isn't just the Vileplume that look different. Why is it that they do look different though?" He inquired.

"If you stop and think about it it's not that surprising really. The tropical climates of this and some of the other Orange Islands are very different to the climate where you live. Naturally the different environment creates differences in the Pokémon that we've raised here. I'm now collecting data and studying how environment causes variation in all our Pokémon." She rationalised.

"You don't mean you bred and raised all the Pokémon on this island do you?" Brock asked, shocked at the possible extent of her work.

"Yes, I dedicated myself to them and I couldn't be happier." She replied quite unabashed by how many Pokémon she was implying she had bred. Brock stared at her with newfound respect in his eyes. Well, more than he had before anyway.

After a few more comments were exchanged one of the assistants came over. "Professor Ivy, look."

"We've got to think of something." She said worriedly as she looked at the Butterfree that was the root of their problems.

"What's the matter?" Brock asked, wondering if they could help.

"Oh, that little Butterfree hasn't eaten a thing in days. The different nutrients haven't worked?" Ivy answered, the last part directed at her assistants.

"No and we've tried five combinations." The assistant informed her.

"Hmm... The ingredients include all the essential nutrients. I just don't understand it." Ivy added as Brock moved in.

"Huh?" He mumbled as he took a good sniff of the food in her hand. Without the slightest hesitation he threw a piece into his mouth and tried it, stunning the locals. His face showed his obvious dislike of the food but when he finished it he made a sudden exclamation. "I've got it!"

As Brock dashed off Ash knew that he had found whatever the problem was with the food. He smiled as he realised that his friend had found a new home and would soon be leaving the group, that much was clear from his emotions.

Once he returned he set to work grinding and chopping several spices and berries.

"What are you doing?" Asked one of the assistants.

"I found out that when a Pokémon decides to eat something the most important thing isn't how nutritious the food is. They care about the taste, Pokémon like food that tastes good to them."

"Well flavour is a factor but how can you determine which flavours a Pokémon likes?" Professor Ivy countered.

"Only from experience. I found that the Butterfree Ash used to own loved sweet things like these berries and spices so hopefully sprinkling a few on the food should get Butterfree to eat it." He sprinkled some of the mixture on the food and the large butterfly immediately flew down and started eating like there was no tomorrow.

"Wow!" Ivy and her assistants exclaimed before the Professor continued alone. "That's simply amazing. I'm embarrassed to call myself a Pokémon researcher when you're the one who seems to know a lot more about Pokémon feeding habits."

"Brock knows tons of stuff about Pokémon, Professor. He's going to be the world's greatest breeder." Ash said, giving his friends a vote of confidence and showing his support for the decision Brock had made.

Brock nodded his thanks to Ash before the conversation continued. A little while later the third assistant arrived to speak to her companions. "Hey you guys, we have to decide who gets stuck cooking dinner tonight."

"Huh, cooking?" Brock inquired, hearing about another job that was perfectly suited for him. When they go to the house that was attached to the lab it was a dump but Brock quickly set to work rectifying that. Amazingly, within an hour Brock had cleaned the house completely and produced a marvellous dinner.

* * *

Soon night had fallen but Ash had stayed up a while as Misty hadn't wanted to stop talking quite yet. He decided that it might be best to broach the subject of Brock leaving now as she seemed quite content. "You know Misty; I think Brock is going to leave us tomorrow to stay here."

"What, why?"

"Oh come on. Haven't you seen the way he looks at Professor Ivy? It's the same way he looks at any girl he thinks is pretty so we already know he wants to be with her more. But when you throw in everything else: the environment, the breeding, the cooking and cleaning it becomes like an even better version of home for him." Ash explained, continuing on with more reasons.

"I also think that the way he sees it, with the skills I've been developing recently and the money I earned, we don't need him as much as they do and I have to admit I think he has a point. When it comes to cooking, carrying our gear and making sure our Pokémon are at full health I'm quite capable of doing it myself even if I would rather have Brock there with me."

"I guess you're right, I can see why he would want to stay." Misty replied sadly as understanding dawned on her.

"Then all that's left is for us is to give him our best wishes tomorrow when we leave."

"Yeah. Wait, does this mean it will be just the two of us now?" She added with a blush appearing on her face.

"It does, but what does that…" Ash trailed off as he realise the implications of what Misty had just said. _'Damn you for abandoning me now Brock.'_ He thought jokingly, wishing more for the older boy to stay now.

There was a sudden spike of panic and pain from out in the grounds. It was so strong that Ash froze in his place. "What's the matter Ash? Are you alright?" Misty asked, sounding worried.

"I'm fine but someone, Pokémon or human, is in a bad way out there right now. Lucario, grab my bag and follow me. Hopefully we'll be able to treat any injuries before they can develop into major problems." Ash told the girl and their Pokémon.

He raced out into the woods with Lucario close behind. They soon found Brock and a couple of Ivy's assistants trying to move the Professor and a Raticate back to the lab. The group quickly explained what had happened; apparently the Raticate had been paralysed after it entered the pollen cloud produced by the many Vileplume nearby. Ivy had suffered the same fate after trying to save it so now they were both in a bad way.

Fortunately Ash had prepared for occasions such as this and quickly found the things he needed to treat them in his backpack. He and Brock set to work whipping up a medicine that would ease the symptoms a great deal. That medicine was enough to let them get back to the Pokémon Center where the two received proper treatment and made a quick recovery.

* * *

"Well, we better get going as I want to try and get through the Orange League fairly quickly so I don't have too little time to complete the Johto gym challenge on the way to the league." Ash was saying. It was the next morning and he and Misty were about to leave Valencia so they were saying their farewells to Brock and the lab workers. "I guess this is goodbye Brock. I know you'll always be by my side in spirit but be sure to call from time to time so we can talk."

"Yeah Ash, I've had a lot of good times travelling with you but I think I've found my new home. Good luck in the leagues, I'll be sure to watch out for your battles and I'll always be cheering you on. I guess it's goodbye for you too Misty, sorry I left so suddenly but you know we'll always be friends." The young man replied.

"Bye Brock, it won't be the same without you but I guess we'll manage somehow." She answered with a few tears in her eyes.

"Well I'd rather not drag this out so let's get going. Gyarados, you're up." Ash said and it was clear that he too was greatly saddened. Misty was too sad to realise just what it was that she was climbing on to and so got on Gyarados without any fuss. Ash climbed up as well and they set off across the ocean towards Tangelo Island, the island where everybody started their Orange League journey.

* * *

They arrived a couple of hours later and were now making their way along a road by the beach, heading towards the Pokémon Center. Ash suddenly froze and clutched his head in pain. "Ash, what's wrong?"

"There's a Pokémon in a lot of pain nearby, it needs help." He said before running off down the road and jumping down to the beach. A few metres from the spot he landed, a Lapras was being harassed by three 'Pokémon trainers'.

"Come on…" Said one of them who was sat atop it.

"Get up and get moving you stupid lump." Another added from its left side.

"You better listen, or else." The final 'trainer' said before hitting it viciously with a stick.

The moment Ash saw the stick hit Lapras his psychic aura flared and the three men were sent flying across the beach. Misty froze in fear; she had never seen Ash this angry before, he hadn't even come close in his semi-final match of the Indigo League. The three men clambered to their feet and ran up to them as Ash's yellow aura faded away.

"Which one of you did that, you think you can just attack us in the middle of our training to take on the Orange Crew? I bet it was you with the Pikachu and that weird lookin' Pokémon. You lookin' for a fight brat?" One of them said, almost yelling at Ash and Misty.

"If you're going to treat a Pokémon like that then you don't deserve to be called Pokémon trainers and for your information I do think I can interrupt your so called 'training'. Besides, that's a wild Pokémon so you're in no position to be training it." Ash moved around so that he, his Pokémon and Misty were now between the men and Lapras. "As for battling, I'd happily do so as even my weakest Pokémon could beat anything you lot have got."

"That does it, let's teach this kid a lesson!" One of them yelled and all three sent out a Pokémon. A Spearow, Hitmonchan and Beedrill appeared before them and prepared themselves to fight.

"Pikachu, you're up but tone your attacks down to ten percent. That's more than enough for those three and we don't want to do any lasting injuries." Ash commanded and Pikachu dove onto the sand with sparks at his cheeks.

"That does it. Go!" His opponents shouted in unison.

"Hold it." An unknown voice said from between them all. Everybody turned to look at the source of it and saw a young man with red shorts, a green shirt and a large orange backpack. He also had a red headband on under his black hair. "This should only take a second."

The young man quickly started examining the three Pokémon opposite Ash and Pikachu. "The feathers on your Spearow indicate it's not getting enough vitamins and it could stand to lose a few pounds. The colouring on this Beedrill is pretty poor and it's obvious this Hitmonchan isn't getting enough exercise. Just as I suspected, it's easy to see that these Pokémon are pitifully underdeveloped." He concluded as he finished the examination.

"What do you mean underdeveloped?" One of Ash's opponents asked.

"Who made you the expert?" Another inquired.

The young man ignored them and came over to look at Pikachu and Lucario. "But this Pikachu looks just perfect, you can tell 'cause its coat is so shiny. I've never seen a Lucario before myself but the lustre of the metal in its body is supposed to be a good indicator of health and yours looks pretty lustrous." He said as he examined Ash's Pokémon. His comments made Ash feel proud of all the work he had put into raising the two properly, even adapting Brock's pokéchow recipes to make them even better for his Pokémon.

The man took a couple of steps back and pulled out a notepad. "I just want to make a quick sketch." He stated as if it were obvious and excitedly started drawing, but Ash's opponents weren't taking well to being ignored. They commanded their Pokémon to attack but Ash responded in an instant.

"Pikachu, you heard me before." He said and Pikachu jumped into the air and unleashed a thunderbolt that most trainers would consider to be fairly strong while to Ash's Pikachu it was really quite weak. In fact it was such a strong attack that the three men took off running with their Pokémon in tow.

"We've got to get help!" The young man who had been examining the Pokémon suddenly exclaimed. "I think this Lapras might be really hurt."

"In that case I'll give it some first aid then we can move it up to the Pokémon Center. Can you two create a stretcher for Lapras while I treat it?" Ash requested. The other two quickly agreed and set off to find the materials they needed. The locals were very helpful, giving them anything they could that might be of use, once the situation was explained to them.

Ash quickly produced a concoction that would ease the pain and help some of the injuries recover if Lapras drunk it. He walked over to the Pokémon which he now realised was only a young Lapras and still had a lot of growing to do. "Here, I made this medicine for you. It will make you feel better." He told it but when he tried to get the Pokémon to drink it he nearly spilled the medicine as the Pokémon tried to knock him away. "So you don't trust me. Then let's try a different approach."

"_Hello, I'm the human in front of you."_ Ash said as he formed telepathic link with Lapras.

"_What the? Get out of my mind, please." _It retorted in a panic.

"_Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Just try and read my emotions."_ With that said he pushed all the emotions he was feeling to the forefront of his mind. His anger at the people who had mistreated Lapras, his sadness that it was hurt and his desire to aid it, all of these combined made Lapras realise that he truly did want to help it and consented to drink the medicine. It felt the effects almost immediately.

"_Thank you, I feel much better now. But why did you help when all the humans I've seen before just attacked me?"_

"_Well I don't know about the humans you've seen before but they all sound like pretty horrible people. Most humans love Pokémon and I tend to go even further than most when it comes to Pokémon in danger so this wasn't a lot for me. By the way, that medicine isn't going to heal you completely so I need to take you to the Pokémon Center. If you let me and my friends put you on the stretcher then we can take you there and another nice person will treat all your injuries properly. Is that okay?"_

"_Okay, I'll try."_ The young one replied nervously.

"_That's good; I promise I won't let anybody hurt you. Here come my friends with the stretcher, we'll probably need your help a little bit to move you on to it so get ready."_ Ash told Lapras as Misty and the still unknown man arrived with a stretcher made of scaffolding and tarpaulin. They managed to get Lapras on to the stretcher with surprising ease but then came the problem that no one but Ash knew how to overcome.

"Okay, so we've got it on a stretcher but what now? We won't be able to carry it to the Pokémon Center ourselves, we're not strong enough." Misty asked.

"That's where these two come in, come on out Charizard." Ash threw two pokéballs into the air and a large red lizard appeared from each, both releasing a small jet of flames. "Alright you two, I need you to fly this stretcher up to the Pokémon Center. We'll be close behind but until we get there don't let anyone except Nurse Joy near Lapras."

The Charizard quickly obeyed and took one end of the stretcher each before easily lifting off and flying it up the hill. "Those must be some really strong Charizard to lift a Lapras so easily, even if it is young." The young man commented as they began running up the road towards the Pokémon Center.

"They are." Ash confirmed. "But who are you? I don't think you've actually introduced yourself."

"Oh right, sorry about that. I'm Tracey, a Pokémon watcher."

"Ah, a Pokémon watcher. I remember Professor Oak telling me how he used to be a Pokémon watcher and it was some of the discoveries he made then that led to him becoming the prominent figure he is today." Ash said. "I guess that explains why you were looking over our Pokémon earlier and why you wanted to sketch them too."

"Yeah. Wait, did you just say you talked with Professor Oak?" Tracey inquired.

"Sure, it was him who sponsored me to become a Pokémon trainer and gave me Pikachu here to start my journey with. We talk all the time, in fact I'm going to call him once we get to the Pokémon Center so I can see if he has any useful information on Lapras that isn't in the pokédex."

"That sounds like a great idea Ash and you know the Professor is always happy to help you or a Pokémon in need." Misty commented.

"Wow, I can't believe I know two people who know Professor Oak, my hero." Tracey exclaimed gleefully.

"Well I can understand respecting him but I think even the Professor would question his being a hero." Ash said somewhat dubiously.

When they finally arrived at the Pokémon Center Nurse Joy was just making her way over to his Charizard. "Don't do it Nurse Joy, they keep attacking anyone who tries to get near them." Said a meek voice from the crowd that had gathered around the two Charizard. She got right up to the two without incident and then saw the Lapras they were guarding.

"So that's why they're being so defensive, they're guarding an injured Lapras." She explained to the crowds.

"Yeah, sorry about that everybody. I told those two not to let anyone but Nurse Joy near the Lapras as it's had a rough time with just about all the humans it's met so far. I had trouble even convincing it to take any medicine down on the beach." Ash said as he walked towards the group. "Return and get some rest you two." Ash said as he recalled the Pokémon.

Once he, Misty and Tracey had explained what happened to Nurse Joy they helped her move the Lapras to a pool behind the Pokémon Center. Once they got there Ash and the others made to go inside while Nurse Joy started administering the medicine. But once Ash got inside and out of sight Lapras started panicking again and fled from Nurse Joy, Ash came back out immediately as he sensed something was wrong.

"What's the problem Nurse Joy?"

"Lapras just suddenly stopped letting me give it the medicine and swam away from me, she won't even let me get close anymore."

"What's wrong Lapras?" Ash asked and when she saw he had arrived she swam over to him and started nuzzling him.

"I see. The only human she really trusts at the moment is you so if you're not around when other humans are she gets scared again."

"I get it. It's okay Lapras; Nurse Joy won't hurt you so why don't you take some more medicine." Lapras nodded and cautiously swam over to Nurse Joy to start taking the medicine again. She soon grew more confident and happily accepted the various other treatments Nurse Joy applied. Once the treatment was finished the humans went inside to let Lapras get some rest.

"Given how Lapras is acting I'm surprised you managed to get it to trust you. Do you mind if I ask how you did it?" Nurse joy inquired as the two walked into the lobby where Misty and Tracey were waiting.

"That's a good point Ash; do you think you could teach me how you did it?" Tracey added.

"I'm afraid I doubt I can teach either of you how as I used my telepathic abilities. You see, Lapras wouldn't take the medicine I was trying to give it so I formed a telepathic link with it and showed it all the emotions I was feeling at the time. That proved to Lapras that I wanted to help her so she started trusting me." Ash explained.

"Whoa, I guess I can't replicate it if you used psychic powers. But I've never heard of anyone being able to do that before, you must be a pretty strong psychic to do that." Tracey complimented.

"I guess you missed the bit where I threw those three guys back several feet with my psychic powers then." Ash said with a grin.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." Tracey joked. They all started laughing and Ash noticed that he was really starting to like this guy; he knew a lot about Pokémon, he cared for them, he had a good sense of humour and seemed like a decent guy. Ash couldn't help but smile as he knew he had just met yet another new friend.

Once they recovered from Tracey's joke Nurse Joy spoke up again. "It's a shame though, that Lapras must have been separated from its pod in the last big storm we had. I doubt it will be able to find them again very soon."

"Yeah, it's a real shame as I know Lapras form very deep bonds within their pod." Tracey added.

"Then why don't we try to get Lapras back together with its family. If we all work together I'm sure we could do it and I could ask Professor Oak to keep an eye out for reports of Lapras pods. There can't be too many in the area so if we find each one that the Professor hears about we should eventually find the right one."

"That sounds like a great idea Ash." Misty praised, loving the thought of helping a water type Pokémon.

"So if I agree could I come with you and maybe even meet Professor Oak?" Tracey asked.

"Sure you could, Professor Oak is always happy to meet a fellow Pokémon enthusiast." Ash told him. "Now I guess the only thing left to do is get Lapras to accept me as its trainer till we find its family again."

"I guess you're right as you're probably the only one of us she would accept as her trainer anyway right now."

And so, once Lapras had rested up and recovered Ash explained the plans to her. She agreed once she realised how difficult it would be for her to find the pod alone. Once she was caught Ash released her again and they set off for the island that was home to the first Orange League gym, Mikan Island.

* * *

**So please feel free to tell me what you think.**

**I've always loved the Pokémon I gave back to Ash in this chapter and I also felt that Ash should have been able to catch the Fearow then, but how will Fearow act? You'll have to keep reading to find out how he acts in my version.**


	8. From Ditto Duels to Crystal Councils

**Author's Note**

**Hey there everyone. Sorry this chapter is a bit late, I was just a bit busy yesterday so I couldn't get it out on time.**

**I have received a review stating that said reviewer finds my sentences to be a bit too long so I was wondering if anybody else felt the same way. If you do agree then please leave a review or PM saying so. If enough people think it is something I should work on then I will change it, if not then I will leave it be as I myself am happy with them the way they are. But you're the ones reading it so it is you that should be enjoying this part the most and I'm willing to work a little bit more for that.**

**Now for speech type and on with the story:**  
**"Normal Speech"**  
**_"Telepathic Speech"  
'Private thoughts'  
_'Quoting Someone/Something'**

* * *

**Chapter 8 – From Ditto Duels to Crystal Councils**

Ash and his friends had arrived at Mikan Island the previous night and were now walking down the road, heading towards the town so that Ash could challenge the gym on the other side of it. As they walked down the road the bushes to their side rustled and an Eevee darted out of them. The Pokémon stopped and looked at the trainers before running into the bushes on the other side of the road.

"Did you see that, it was an Eevee? I've gotta go after it and try to catch it." Ash said excitedly before there was a flash of white light behind the bush and a Pikachu jumped out from behind it. "Hang on a minute, now there's a Pikachu too. That doesn't seem likely and you're emotions are telling me you're in a pretty mischievous mood. This is getting a bit suspicious." He continued as he wondered what other explanation there could be.

"Ash, we all saw the Eevee and we all see the Pikachu. Just what do you think could be going on if they're not both here?" Misty inquired.

"I've got it." He exclaimed suddenly. "You must be a Ditto and you used transform behind those bushes. That's what the flash of light was." The Pikachu grinned before it glowed white again and turned into a Lucario instead. "I am definitely catching you now. I've been wondering what it would actually be like to train a Ditto ever since we met Duplica. Pikachu, let's go."

Pikachu jumped to the floor and readied itself for battle. The Lucario soon charged at Pikachu as claws of purple energy sprouted from its paw. "Dodge that shadow claw Pikachu and then hit it with thunderbolt." Pikachu followed Ash's orders to the letter by jumping over the top of the Lucario and hitting it with a strong blast of electrical energy. The Lucario faltered in its step but stayed standing as it turned to face its enemy. "Good, that Ditto is pretty strong so it'll make a good addition to the team. Try to hit it with an iron tail this time then get underground with dig."

Pikachu managed to hit the Lucario on the head with its glowing tail before diving to the floor and burrowing underground. The Lucario jumped into the air and began spinning head over heels though and Ash immediately saw what it was doing. "Pikachu, get out from underground. It's going to use…" It landed again and the floor shook tremendously as Pikachu slowly clambered out of a hole, obviously having suffered from that attack.

Both Pokémon were panting now as Ash mad the next move. "Pikachu, hit it with thunder!" The mouse Pokémon obliged and the Lucario was sent flying back once the enormous bolt of lightning hit it. As it landed it glowed white once again and when the glow died down all that was left was a worn out Ditto. "Pokéball go!" Ash cried as he threw the small red and white sphere at his target. The small purple Pokémon was drawn inside and the ball shook a couple of times before falling still and pinging. "Alright! We just caught a Ditto!" He crowed.

"Congratulations Ash, I'd say that Ditto will make a great addition to your team. Especially once you train it up a bit." Tracey observed.

"Thanks Tracey." He replied as he noticed a police motorbike approaching. The bike stopped beside the group and Officer Jenny clambered off of it.

"Hello kids. Have any of you seen a Ditto in the area? We just had a trainer come into the Pokémon Centre with a severely injured Pokémon and he's the tenth one this week. Apparently a Ditto did it and that's what all the others have been saying too so I'm trying to find it and put a stop to this."

"Was that Pokémon an Eevee by any chance?"

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"Because I think I just caught your culprit then. Come on out Ditto." The exhausted Pokémon appeared before the group and promptly turned away from them with its features set in an angry expression, clearly planning to rebel at the first opportunity. "He came out of the bushes as an Eevee a few minutes ago and I decided to catch it once I realised what it was, though when I first saw it I hoped to catch an Eevee."

"Well I'm glad you managed to catch it, that Pokémon has seriously injured more than fifteen Pokémon overall, all of them belonging to trainers. As far as we're aware the wild Pokémon have been left completely alone." Jenny told them.

"I wonder why that is." Misty commented.

"It probably had a bad experience with humans like Ash's Lapras did with poachers and has hated them ever since. So it challenges all the humans it sees in revenge or something." Tracey pointed out.

"A good theory, it may even have been abandoned by a trainer once, explaining why it only targets people with Pokémon and not just all people. Whatever the reason, I'll get to the bottom of this and help Ditto get over it. Hopefully then we can become friends and work together." Ash continued.

"Well I did hear a rumour about a guy who was pretty harsh on his Pokémon passing through recently so you could be right. You'll have your work cut out with that one though whatever the case. I guess there's nothing left for me to do here so I'll go and let everyone know that it's taken care of. Thanks again." Officer Jenny said before she drove off on her motorbike.

* * *

Ten minutes later Ash was sat at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea with Pikachu, Lucario and Ditto beside him. _"So Ditto, why don't you like Pokémon Trainers?"_ He said in the Pokémon present.

"_What the? Trainer?"_ Ditto inquired.

"_Yes, it's me, your new trainer. Now would you care to explain why you dislike Pokémon Trainers so much, we're not a bad bunch really?"_

"_Yeah right. My last trainer abandoned me because he thought I was weak and all his friends just laughed at me. You humans are all the same, you can't be trusted to look after Pokémon properly so I have to help your Pokémon realise that they need to break free from you."_

"_You weak? Don't be ridiculous." _Pikachu snorted.

"_Pikachu's right, he can fight on a par with legendary Pokémon and yet you were able to both take his attacks and damage him. I recently took part in a tournament where many Pokémon Trainers gathered and battled. All the Pokémon there were supposed to be strong yet many of them couldn't have defeated you. I promise you that by my side you will get even stronger and your old trainer wouldn't believe you could be the same Pokémon he abandoned. What was your trainer's name by the way? It's just that if I ever meet him again I want to know to use you to beat him."_

"_If you must know, his name is Damian but I still don't believe a word you're saying."_

"_Damian? Did he have blue hair and sunglasses?"_

"_So you're one of his friends are you? Even more reason not to trust you."_

"_I'll take that as a yes and for your information I'm far from being his friend. I think it's time you met another of my Pokémon._ Charizard, come on out buddy."

"_What is it Ash?"_ The lizard asked as it appeared.

"_I'm sure you remember your old trainer well." _Charizard let out a low and dangerous growl. _"Well I just caught this Ditto and it turns out he was abandoned too. I want you to talk to him about his trainer and help him understand that we aren't all like that. I'll take a walk for now and leave you four Pokémon to talk about things."_ Ash explained before standing up and walking along the cliff, behind him he could hear the Pokémon beginning to talk with each other.

* * *

Ash returned a quarter of an hour later to find the Pokémon all laughing alongside each other. They fell silent as he approached though. _"So Ditto, what do you think?"_ Ash asked.

The Pokémon's face fell as he thought about what to say. _"I'm sorry. I was wrong and I want to make up for treating you and everyone else so badly. Will you please train me?"_

"_Of course I will. If I catch a Pokémon I train it no matter what. I'd only ever release a Pokémon I caught if it wanted to go and as you've asked to train then you're welcome to stay as long as you like."_

"_Thank you."_

* * *

The group was now walking down a road lined with palm trees that ran along the top of the beach. Ash suddenly spotted a coconut on the ground by the side of the road. _'It sure would be nice to drink some coconut milk. Maybe I'll just crack it op… Hang on, there's a string attached to that coconut, somebody must be trying to play a trick on us.'_ Expanding the range of his psychic powers Ash felt someone hiding behind the tree the coconut was next to, looking up he saw a bucket of water hanging from it and smiled as he knew exactly how to turn this situation around. Without alerting Misty and Tracey as to what he was doing he used his psychic powers to reposition the bucket above the prankster making Lucario and Pikachu snicker.

"Hey look! A coconut, I'll just crack it open and drink the milk." He sensed anticipation building behind the tree and reached down. He picked up the coconut and as he did so the string pulled on the bucket so that the water it contained fell right on the other side of the tree, dousing the person responsible for the trap.

"Waaa!" Cried a young boy as he staggered out from behind the tree, soaked to the bone. "What happened, I'm sure I put the bucket above the coconut?" He then spotted Ash's group scowling at him.

"You know it's not very nice to play pranks on people!" Misty said irately. "If that bucket had been above the coconut then Ash would have been soaked and he hasn't done anything."

"So what?" Said the little boy, clearly having no respect at all for Misty.

"Oi! Don't talk to Misty like that." Ash told him. "Besides, you're the one that was stupid enough to mess up your own trap." Ash teased. The boy started scowling even more as he glared at Ash who couldn't take it any longer and burst out laughing, his Pokémon following suit. "Hahaha… To be honest your trap was set up perfectly, I just used my psychic powers to move the bucket over you instead." Ash explained as he demonstrated his powers by levitating the coconut above his hand, much to the little boy's awe.

A melodic laugh started up behind the boy and he went rigid. "I like you kid, you really showed my little brother here. It serves you right Senta, aren't you supposed to be inside cleaning your room? Go on and get to it." A young woman commented as she came into view. She spoke to Ash and his friends once more when the boy was walking towards the gym building. "Sorry about him. I'm Cissy, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Well I'd say that you're probably the gym leader here and I came to challenge the gym so I suspect you can help me."

"Oh, a challenger. In that case I accept your challenge, shall we go on inside."

"Yes, let's get this started."

Once inside the two trainers took up positions on opposite sides of a battlefield. "I wasn't expecting a battlefield. I heard you decided things in this gym using a water gun challenge and a Pokémon wave ride."

"We do." She said before pushing a button on a remote control. Once she pressed the button the battlefield parted down the middle, pulling back towards each trainer and revealing a pool. At the side of the room a shutter descended into the floor to reveal a set of thirty cans sat on a long table. "Since you already know about the challenges I assume you don't need an explanation. Go Seadra!"

"I don't." Ash confirmed. "I choose you Psyduck."

"Water gun!" The two trainers commanded in unison and their Pokémon complied by striking can after can until there were none left.

"Well I'll be. It looks like my Seadra actually got beaten by a Psyduck. Seventeen cans for you and thirteen for me, which makes you the winner of this round. Now on to the wave ride and we'll see if you can really beat this gym."

"Alright Lapras, come on out. I want you to watch this so you get some idea of what kind of competitive events I might use you in later on, okay?" Lapras quickly gave her assent and Ash moved on to call out the Pokémon he would use. "Blastoise, I choose you."

"A Blastoise huh? That's funny because I'll be using my Blastoise." Cissy told him as the two Pokémon materialised, Ash's showing its unique pattern as the only visible difference between them. "Would one of you two mind calling the start of the race?"

"Sure." Tracey said. "I don't mind. Ready!" The two trainers climbed onto their Pokémon. "Three… Two… One…" The trainers and Pokémon tensed themselves, waiting for the next word. "Go!"

The Pokémon shot off with their trainers on their backs, each trying to push itself ahead of the other. As they approached the buoy that would act as the turning point in the race Ash's Blastoise managed to pull slightly ahead. "Alright Blastoise, now try to go through on the inside." Blastoise managed to make it to the inside and turned the corner easily, quickly followed by Cissy and her Blastoise.

The two became worried as a rumbling sound began to build up behind them. The trainers turned and saw a wave towering above them and approaching quickly. A few moments before it could knock Cissy off her Blastoise and drive her underwater Ash acted. "Blastoise, use rapid spin to skip across the water while you hit that wave with flash cannon!" His Blastoise jumped out of the water with Ash balanced perfectly on the peak of the shell, the one spot that wasn't turning rapidly, and began bouncing across the top of the water. A pair of silver beams fired from the rapidly rotating shellfish Pokémon and crashed into the wave.

The wave split where the beams made contact, saving Cissy from being hit by the monstrous thing. Moments later Ash and Blastoise bounced onto the beach and Blastoise came to a quick stop as the sand absorbed the energy of the impact. Unfortunately Ash didn't slow down and he was sent flying head first into a palm tree.

When Ash had recovered he wandered back over to the others, laughing jovially at his misfortune. "Unlucky Ash, but you still won the Coral-Eye badge fair and square so here you go. I think I should be thanking you too, if you hadn't come up with that incredible idea at the end then I might have been forced underwater. Blastoise may have been able to save me but I still wouldn't have been in very good shape."

"Don't worry about it. Besides, I wouldn't have thought I had earned the badge if you lost after being forced underwater like that." Ash countered as he accepted the badge. "I guess it's time for us to get moving again isn't it guys? There're a lot of islands to visit after all."

* * *

Ash and his friends had now arrived at their next stop, Mandarin Island, and dismounted Lapras. As Ash was returning her he suddenly felt dizzy and staggered slightly, as if drunk. "Whoa Ash, careful you don't fall in the sea." Tracey commented.

"Pikachu, Lucario, you two need to return for now. I just sensed some pretty strong psychic waves and I'm sure that isn't good news." Ash said as he pulled out their pokéballs and returned them. As they walked down the pier they saw a pair of men backing away from a group of Pokémon and failing in their attempts to return them, the Pokémon just kept avoiding the beam of light.

"Looks like trouble." Tracey observed.

"Yeah, let's go and find out what's happening." Ash suggested as he began to walk towards the people and Pokémon, stopping a short distance from the Pokémon as he didn't want to get too close to them in their current agitated state.

The Voltorb in the group of Pokémon suddenly used self-destruct to create a cloud of dust that the Pokémon used to cover their escape. The blaring siren of the police could be heard in the distance and it quickly grew closer. Upon arrival officer Jenny spoke. "What just happened?"

"It seems that the Pokémon of those two trainers were influenced into attacking and abandoning their trainers. I believe the cause to be some psychic waves that I felt shortly after our arrival here." Ash informed her.

"Well in the past few days we've had reports of Pokémon that have stopped obeying their trainers and in some cases even attacked them and then vanished." A Gastly suddenly formed in front of Officer Jenny's head, startling the trainers. "Gastly, we're discussing official police business here." She scolded, much to the Pokémon's amusement.

"Hmm… It seems your Gastly is unaffected which supports my theory that psychic waves are responsible. Though ghost types detect the waves they do not feel the need to respond to them like other Pokémon." Ash pointed out.

"Yes, but why isn't your Togepi affected young lady. Togepi aren't ghost types and so far every other Pokémon in the area has responded to whatever it may be."

"I-I don't know." Misty realised.

"That's my doing." Ash explained. "I erected a psychic barrier around Togepi to protect it from the waves. I'd have put one up around my two Pokémon that dislike their pokéballs too but it's very taxing to sustain more than one and I'd rather not wear myself out when there are criminals around."

"Thanks Ash!" Misty exclaimed as she gave him a hug.

"Well why don't we discuss this further back at the station, it sounds like you could be quite helpful young man. What are your names?"

"I'm Ash, this is Misty and this is Tracey. It's nice to meet you Officer Jenny."

* * *

Back at the station the group was discussing the situation. "The only idea I've got is to start searching the area with Gastly until we find the missing Pokémon." Jenny told them.

"I just can't believe that a Pokémon is doing this all by itself." Tracey observed.

"I don't think it is Tracey." Ash commented.

"What?" The other three asked.

"You see, only a legendary Pokémon, or something on the level of a legendary Pokémon, would be able to produce psychic waves this strong. That means that it's more likely that a more normal Pokémon is having its powers amplified by some sort of machine to produce waves this strong. That means we're probably looking for a fairly new and large building, it'll have to have some sort of satellite dish on it to broadcast with as well." He explained.

"You seem to know an awful lot about this." Officer Jenny commented, suspicion clear in her voice.

"Well I learnt a lot about psychic powers when I trained my own and I also have a pair of legendary psychic types so I know how to judge the strength of psychic waves quite well now."

"Wait, you're the Ash that won the Indigo League aren't you. As that's the case I'll believe you and I'd be grateful if you could lend me your strength as I don't know what we'll be facing when we find this Pokémon."

"Of course I'll help you, the evidence so far suggests that someone is kidnapping Pokémon and there is no way I can let that slide. I'd also say that it's quite likely to be some sort of organisation such as Team Rocket behind this as it's such a large plan."

"It is Team Rocket behind it." Said a voice that Ash and Misty instantly recognised as belonging to Jessie. They whipped round to find her and James stood in the entrance to the room dressed in, surprisingly, normal clothes.

"Team Rocket!" Misty shouted.

"Hold on, don't jump to conclusions!" James said. "After the last time the Twerp sent us blasting off our Pokémon nearly got stolen by a poacher. The fear and pain we felt then made us realise just how terrible the things we had been doing were so we decided to leave Team Rocket. Though we didn't officially resign because then the boss might decide to send someone after us to make sure we stay quiet."

"Your boss would really go so far as to kill you?" Misty inquired, not believing their story but ignoring that for now.

"Not boss, old boss. And he wouldn't go so far as to kill but he would have someone beat us up if he felt like it." Jessie told her.

"Anyway, we ended up in the Orange Islands and decided to visit some of them and start travelling and training like normal trainers. When we got to this island though, Meowth started acting really weird and eventually ran off. We managed to track him down and found out that Biff and Cassidy were the ones behind it all. That's when we came here to tell Officer Jenny. Those two are running their operations in the 'power plant' in the middle of the city, the one surrounded by trees. It's actually a facility built by Team Rocket for their members to use for plans like this." James continued.

"Well I've heard your story but I still don't believe you." Misty said angrily. "I bet you're the ones behind this and you're just trying to lure us somewhere and catch us."

"No Misty, they're telling the truth. That's obvious with my powers, the guilt, remorse and anger at themselves they are feeling just supports the explanation. I'm forgiving them and giving them a second chance and if I can then you can too." Ash told her. Knowing what Ash had been through at the hands of Team Rocket as a whole and that almost all of the attacks planned by these two and Meowth targeted Ash, she knew she had no right to complain.

"What do you mean 'if I can then you can too' Ash?" Tracey asked. Surprisingly, Jessie was the one to answer.

"For the last year we attempted to steal the Twerp's Pikachu just about every day whereas we barely did anything to the Twerpette over there."

"In that case I'm going to have to place you under arrest." Officer Jenny told them.

"No." Ash said, defending the duo who had once been his most hated enemies. "These two have completely turned their lives around and abandoned Team Rocket. Now they're trying to help us stop Team Rocket so surely you can let them go." The two were speechless; this boy that they had attacked so often was sticking up for them without the slightest hesitation.

"Thank you Twerp!" The two shouted as tears of joy streamed from their eyes.

"Now Officer Jenny, I think we should pay the facility that these two mentioned a visit and stop Buff and Cassidy."

"Alright then Ash but if they set even a toe out of line then I'll arrest them straight away." She told him before leading the way to the Team Rocket base.

* * *

When the group arrived, the story told by Jessie and James was verified as the truth. "This is the place alright; the psychic waves are at their strongest here which means it's the source. It's time to bring this operation down." Ash told them before raising his hands and blasting the gates of the facility off their hinges with his psychic powers.

Jessie and James, who were still present, cowered in fear as they thanked god that they were no longer Ash's enemies. In the bushes a girl with a head of long blonde hair watched in awe. A moment later Ash crushed the large satellite dish atop the building into a heap of scrap metal, stopping the psychic waves from being broadcast so strongly and openly. "Now we'll be able to call out our Pokémon. The waves aren't strong enough to influence them out here but if we go inside then they'll probably just fall prey to the waves being produced by the Pokémon itself."

* * *

Inside the building a pair of people saw the gates get blown off their hinges and acted quickly. "I think we should send all those Pokémon we caught to go and deal with these intruders, don't you?" A male voice said.

"Yes, I think that's a brilliant idea. Drowzee, you heard us so send those Pokémon out there to battle now." As the Pokémon followed the orders of the female voice that had spoken there was another crashing sound but when they looked at the monitors nothing seemed any different so they decided to ignore it. Unfortunately for them, not placing cameras to watch the satellite dish would be their downfall.

They watched on the monitors as the Pokémon approached the entrance to the building where Ash and his friends were waiting. The Pokémon soon arrived at their destination but as soon as they stepped outside they were freed of the Drowzee's control. "What's going on?" The man asked as the Pokémon stopped and looked around with confusion on their faces.

"Oh no! It can't be can it…? They must have destroyed the satellite dish somehow, Drowzee's hypnotic waves bounce around on the walls, so inside they'll remain under his control but now that they're outside the waves have dispersed and without the dish we can't control them anymore." The female responded.

"In that case I guess we'll just have to go out there ourselves."

* * *

"I choose you Shelgon!" Ash cried as he released the Pokémon. "Now that the captured Pokémon are out use your flamethrower on that building." The endurance Pokémon complied and the building swiftly began to burn on its own.

"What are you doing!? You could have killed us!" Yelled a woman as she sprinted out of the entrance with a man close behind her.

"No I couldn't, I already knew you were coming to fight us so I knew you'd make it out in time. And the Drowzee you kidnapped teleported itself out when the fire started so I don't have to worry about it. "But it is so nice to see you again Botch and Cassidy." Ash said sarcastically.

"It's Butch!" Roared the man in question.

"Whatever." Was Ash's reply as if he couldn't care less which, in all honesty, he couldn't.

"That does it, go Primeape!" Butch yelled and the Pokémon materialised. "Hit that punk with your dynamic punch!"

"Raticate, hit him with your tackle too!" Cassidy shouted and as the Pokémon appeared before her they both dived at Ash and hit him. Ash was sent flying back several feet by the attacks but climbed back to his feet.

"Ash!" Jenny cried.

"You know, it's a bad idea to attack me when my Pokémon are around. Because it makes them very angry." Ash said and what followed proved him right. Shelgon bellowed his rage to the skies and was engulfed in white light as he evolved once more and became capable of achieving his dream of flight.

"What is that!?" Cassidy screamed.

"Salamence! Let's use your newest move, Draco Meteor!" Ash roared and Salamence produced a ball of orange energy in his mouth. When it had fully formed he shot it into the skies where it exploded, showering smaller orange balls down on the Team Rocket Pokémon and knocking them out with ease. Several of them also hit the building and that was all it needed to finally collapse.

Butch and Cassidy fell to their knees in horror at the angry Pokémon in front of them. As a result they failed to notice Officer Jenny come up behind them until she handcuffed the two of them. "You're under arrest for kidnapping Pokémon. I'm taking you back to the station."

A van arrived moments later to take the two to their place of imprisonment. "It looks like Team Rocket is being carted off again!"

Off in the bushes the same head of blonde hair from earlier was still watching. "He's incredible, but I'm just glad he got you out unharmed Milotic." Muttered a soft voice as the owner walked away.

* * *

Ash was now stood outside the police station in front of Officer Jenny, many of the trainers whose Pokémon had been stolen were gathered around to thank Ash. "And so on behalf of all the Pokémon trainers on Mandarin Island I hereby present you with this certificate of distinguished achievement. You are now an honorary citizen." Officer Jenny told him as she passed the piece of paper to him.

"Thank you." Ash said as the gathered trainers cheered for him.

"We also had a special reward to present to Jessie and James but they seem to have disappeared."

"Well I'm sure I'll meet them again somewhere so I'll be sure to pass on the message that it's here for them. They probably just want to keep a low profile at the moment so their old boss doesn't send someone after them."

"Yeah, I feel bad for doubting them in the beginning." Misty mumbled.

"Well guys. I guess it's time we got going; those badges and Pokémon aren't going to come to me." Ash pointed out.

"I guess you're right. Though the way you tend to get Pokémon you probably could just stay in one place and still get them all." Misty joked. The three and their Pokémon then walked towards the docks.

As they neared the water at the docks they noticed a young girl who must have been about two years older than Ash walking straight towards them. She wore a black shirt, coat and trousers as well as a grey teardrop-like pendant. She had gorgeous, long blonde hair and deep, grey eyes. Ash was momentarily entranced but snapped himself out of it; it was rude of him to stare after all.

The girl walked up to them and stopped right in front of Ash before nervously speaking to him. "Umm… My names Cynthia and I wanted to thank you for saving my Pokémon from those thieves. I had tracked them down and was just going to go and get Officer Jenny when you arrived there. I saw your battle, you were incredible!" As she had continued speaking and got onto the subject of battling she had become more enthusiastic and forgot her nervousness.

"I'm Ash and that's okay. I hate Team Rocket and hopefully I'll finish them off for good someday but until then I just have to make do with putting an end to minor operations like this."

"Wow, you must really hate them if you want to stop the entire organisation but I doubt anyone could do that. Anyway, would you be willing to battle me?"

"You'd be surprised what I am capable of but I'm always up for a battle so you're on. I'll warn you now though; something about you makes me think you're a strong trainer so I won't hold back in battle."

"Good it's no fun when people hold back. I know the perfect place for us to battle so follow me."

Five minutes later they stopped in a large and empty field just outside the city. "Is this okay?" Cynthia asked.

"Sure, now let's get started. Salamence, you haven't had a chance to spread your wings and fly yet so come on out!"

"Gabite, help me out!" Ash released his large blue and red dragon while Cynthia released a slightly shorter purple and red Pokémon.

"What's a Gabite?" Ash inquired as he pulled out his pokégram and used the pokédex function. A holographic version of the Pokémon appeared as the pokédex read out its information.

"Gabite. The cave Pokémon. Native Region: Sinnoh. Types: Dragon and Ground. It loves sparkly things. It seeks treasure in caves and hoards the loot into its nest."

"Interesting." Ash mused. "Would you happen to be from Sinnoh too then?"

"No but now that you know about my Pokémon shall we get this started?"

"Why not? Salamence, start things off with dragon breath._ From this moment on I will be giving you orders telepathically."_ Ash said, switching to telepathy for the last sentence.

"_That would be wise; I sense great power in these two."_ Salamence observed as he sent a beam of light blue air at his opponent.

"Dodge that and use stone edge Gabite." The Pokémon dived to the side and summoned a ring of large stones around itself before they flew at Salamence and struck home. "Good hit Gabite but stay wary, that won't be enough to finish it off."

"_Take to the skies and then hit it with hydro pump from above."_ Salamence flapped his wings a few times to get airborne before flying straight over his opponent and hitting it with a blast of water.

Gabite staggered forward a few steps as it took at least as much damage as Salamence had. "I take it that you can use telepathy as your Salamence did that and I already know you have some psychic powers. Gabite, use dragon rage!" It hurled a ball of fire at Salamence who obeyed Ash's commands when they came.

"_Dodge that and then get in close to strike with dragon claw."_

"Counter that with slash and then use dragon pulse!" A glowing white claw intercepted the claws of Salamence that glowed purple before a turquoise ball of energy struck him and sent him crashing to the floor. "Now hit it with another stone edge!"

"_Get back in the skies and use dragon breath again."_ Salamence managed to get off the ground just before the stones hit and Ash realised that they would have to work on how long it took to take off. The familiar beam of blue air shot from Salamence's mouth and hit home on Gabite.

"Gabite!" Cynthia screamed as she saw it fall to its knees.

"_Attack with dragon claw again but pull it just short so it doesn't actually hit and injure Gabite."_ Salamence roared before diving down and swinging a glowing purple claw at Gabite but to Cynthia's immense relief he stopped it the moment it was about to make contact. "The battle is over but you should be proud. You probably would have had me if that last stone edge had managed to hit and I doubt you knew before now but I actually won the last Kanto League so that just goes to show how strong you are."

"Wow, I had no idea. That's great too because I plan to try and win the next Sinnoh League and if I can nearly beat a league champion then with a bit more training I should be able to win hopefully."

"I like your attitude; in fact I suppose it's just like mine. What do you want to do once you win?"

"I plan to take on the elite four then but I'll need to be even stronger to do that."

"Well if you're planning on staying in the Orange Islands for a while then would you like to come with us? I think we could really push each other in training and you seem like a fun person to have around."

"That's a great idea Ash. Please say yes Cynthia, it would be nice to have another girl around and you really do seem like a nice person." Misty added.

"Well I don't mind, not that it would really matter if I did with those two agreeing to it." Tracey confirmed.

"In that case I'd love to. I was actually planning to ask you for a few tips about teaching my Gabite draco meteor before you left but if I came with you I could probably learn far more than just that. And you guys all seem like really nice people too so it should be fun at the same time." Cynthia told them.

"Ha, well it's certainly never boring with Ash around. I guarantee you by the end of the week we'll have had several unusual adventures. These things just happen around Ash." Misty replied and everyone laughed.

"Well let's get going then and start heading to the next island with our new friend." Ash cheered.

"Uh… Ash, I think you're overlooking something. Lapras won't be able to carry us all." Misty pointed out.

Ash thought for a moment before coming up with a solution. "In that case I'll just use Gyarados. Lucario, Pikachu, someone and I can ride on Gyarados while the others ride on Lapras. After all, I did intend for you, me and Brock to ride on her in the first place when we came out here."

"No way am I riding a Gyarados!" Misty yelled.

"Well I don't mind riding one." Cynthia said.

"In that case it's settled. Cynthia, Lucario, Pikachu and I will ride Gyarados while Misty and Tracey will ride Lapras." With that said the group set off back to the shore and onwards to the next island.

* * *

"So Cynthia, what type of Pokémon do you train?" Ash asked as they rode on the back of Gyarados.

"I don't train any type of Pokémon in particular, I just train strong Pokémon. What about you? You seem like you don't specialise either what with the fact that the Pokémon I've seen you with cover seven different types."

"You're right, I don't. I just capture or take in any Pokémon that I like or that has grown to like me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for example I caught a Ditto the other day that I originally knew nothing about; afterwards I found out that its trainer had abandoned it for being 'weak'. In my opinion, people like that don't have the right to call themselves Pokémon trainers and this one in particular had once abandoned a Charmander that I ended up taking in. Charizard is now one of my strongest, probably still slightly stronger than Salamence as he hasn't had much time to grow into his new body and power while Ditto is extremely strong too for a supposedly weak Pokémon."

"Wow, I've never thought of things like that before. I agree that it's not right to abandon a Pokémon but don't you think it's a good idea to just stop training weak Pokémon?"

"No way! All Pokémon have the potential to become strong and as my friend Brock would say 'Raising a Pokémon is the most fun part'. I agree, if you have a weak Pokémon then it is just a test of your skills to get it stronger so you can understand your abilities better as all Pokémon have the potential to become strong. A good example would be my Krabby which was really weak when I first started training it but by the time I was done it won a battle in the Kanto League and could probably have won the entire match if I let it stay in."

"Really!? I guess you might be right then, maybe I should try training some of my weaker Pokémon."

"So what Pokémon have you got that you don't train then?"

"Quite a few if I'm honest. As I only bothered to train Pokémon that I already thought were strong I've only got three with me at the moment. I was hoping to catch some more out here but those three are Gabite, Milotic and Spiritomb."

Ash looked the three up on his pokégram and thought about things for a few moments. "Well how about this then. For now, I will help you train your Gabite to use draco meteor and your 'weak' Pokémon but you'll have to train your other two Pokémon on your own. Once your 'weak' Pokémon have improved then I'll see if there is anything to do there but to be honest I suspect that you'll probably pick up most of my training techniques with only a few tips being needed."

"You will!? Thanks a lot Ash. With my other Pokémon trained I'll stand an even better chance of winning the Sinnoh League even if I don't capture any strong Pokémon. What about you though, won't you need to train your own Pokémon?"

"Of course I will but I won't spend all my time helping you so I'll be able to train my own Pokémon. I can also show you my training methods more easily if I'm actually training them."

"Hey Ash!" Misty yelled, interrupting Ash's and Cynthia's conversation. "We just found something, why don't you come on over and take a look?"

"Alright then. Gyarados, can you take us closer?" Gyarados complied with Ash's request and when they got close Misty tossed a small bottle with a piece of paper inside to him. "A message in a bottle, that's pretty old school. I wonder what it says." Ash then read the message aloud so that everyone could hear it. "'If you know anything about a Pokémon called the Crystal Onix let me know right away. Marissa from Sunburst Island.'"

"The Crystal Onix?" Misty and Cynthia questioned.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be an Onix made of glass crystal." Tracey explained.

"Well that sounds pretty interesting to me, what do you guys say we go and see if we can find it?"

"Sure!" They all replied enthusiastically and set off in the direction of Sunburst Island.

* * *

Ash and his friends were now walking down the high street on Sunburst Island past a great many shops, all of which seemed to be selling glassware. "Wow, look at all the glass." Misty said.

"Sunburst Island is famous for having all kinds of crystal and glass shops." Tracey explained. "Lots of artists live here and they make the glass right on the island. People travel from all over the world to buy it."

"Cool."

"Wow, it all looks so shiny." Cynthia observed as they continued on their way.

"I'd really like to buy something…" Misty pointed out.

"Then why don't I buy us all something small before we leave the island, my present for you all?" Ash said.

"Ash, have you seen how expensive this stuff is?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah, that's why is said something small. I can't afford to get any big stuff but a couple of small things should be fine."

"Wow. Thanks Ash."

"Don't worry about it."

"You're still keeping this crummy shop open?" Asked a harsh voice suddenly. "Haven't you gone out of business yet?" Ash and his friends looked around and saw a man standing over a young pink-haired girl.

"No sir." The girl replied meekly.

"I don't see why you don't close up shop. You got no merchandise; tell your big brother he should give up already. He hasn't got any talent."

"Yes he does." She replied, eyes wavering and on the verge of crying. "He's very good."

"Ah come on. Don't start crying on me…"

"What's going on here?" Ash asked, intervening before the man could do any more harm. "I can't see any good reason to treat this girl this way." He told the man.

"What's it to you, you know her?"

"No, but do I have to know someone to defend them when they're clearly upset by something uncalled for?"

"Well then listen up; being next to them is killing my business. These kids today, sticking their noses where they don't belong." The man said as he walked away, as he walked past one of the tables several pieces of glassware crashed to the floor and shattered. "Ah! My merchandise!" What everybody failed to notice was the small flash of yellow that briefly surrounded the glass before it fell. Well, everybody except one person.

"You did that didn't you?" Cynthia whispered to Ash.

"I have no idea what you mean." Ash whispered back innocently.

"Well I think it served him right to lose a bit of his merchandise for treating the poor girl that way." Cynthia told him with a wink before turning and speaking to the girl. "Hey there, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"You don't run this shop all by yourself do you?" Misty inquired as she came over.

"No, my big brother Mateo helps me out a lot."

"That sounds nice." Ash encouraged.

"Except now he feels really bad and doesn't want to make glass anymore."

"Why don't you tell us your name?" Cynthia asked.

"My name's Marissa."

"Then were you the one who wrote this?" Ash inquired as he pulled out the small note and bottle.

"I knew somebody would answer my letter!" She exclaimed cheerfully. "You have to tell me about the Crystal Onix. Please tell me, please."

"I'm sorry but the truth is we don't know anything about it." Ash explained, feeling bad for getting the girls hopes up.

"Oh." She said dejectedly. "I thought for sure that you'd found it."

"Are you sure there's such a thing as a Crystal Onix?" Misty asked somewhat sceptically.

"Sure there is." The girl replied enthusiastically.

"Maybe we should all have a talk with your brother about this." Misty suggested.

A few minutes later the group was stood inside the girl's house with her brother. "Marissa, have you been bothering these people?" Mateo asked.

"Not at all." Ash told him. "But I have something to ask. All the other glass stores are full of stuff but yours is practically empty, how come?"

"Well you see when my grandfather ran the store it was full of glass and it was a big success. Grandpa was a really talented artist and he made beautiful glass Pokémon sculptures every day. I tried my best to follow in his footsteps but I just can't make anything good enough to sell in the store."

"But these are great." Cynthia said as she looked at a few glass figures left on a workbench. "Did you make them Mateo?"

"I did and maybe they are good but compared to Grandpa's they're worthless." Mateo said as he picked one up and threw it to the side. Just as it was about to smash on the floor it was stopped by a yellow glow.

"You shouldn't be so quick to throw them away. They may not be good enough to sell in your opinion but they still serve as a reminder of what you want to work towards, without them what do you have to remind you of the improvements you seek to make? We must never forget the faults we have or once had for they are the things that define us." Ash told him as he moved the sculpture back to the table with his powers.

"Wow Ash, that was pretty deep stuff." Cynthia observed.

"Well I used to be an overconfident and lazy brat of a trainer but I went through an event that changed my perspective of things by quite a bit."

"What sort of event?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." Was Ash's only reply and the look on his face was enough to tell Cynthia and Tracey, who was also interested, not to push the subject. "Anyway, what's so bad about them Mateo?"

"They don't have that soul, that sparkle or inner fire. They look like statues. Grandpa's Pokémon looked like they might come alive at any second. If I could just find some kind of inspiration…" Mateo explained, trailing off towards the end.

"I see, and that must be where the Crystal Onix Marissa wants to find comes into things."

"Yes, I'm sure I could do it if I could just capture the Crystal Onix. Grandpa used to tell me that when he was a young artist he saw the Crystal Onix and that's what inspired him. Take a look at this; it's my Grandpa's sculpture of the Crystal Onix he saw. Grandpa used to say that just picturing it would give him the inspiration he needed and I've looked all over the island for it but haven't found it."

"Well in that case I'll help you find it. I think it would be pretty awesome to see a Crystal Onix myself too." Ash said.

"You can count me in." Cynthia added.

"Me too." Tracey commented.

"Don't forget me." Misty finished.

"Really!? Thank you very much!" Marissa cheered.

* * *

The group searched around the island finding nothing. When searching normally failed Tracey called out his Venonat and asked it to try and find an Onix with its radar eye, unfortunately all Venonat managed to find was a pile of rocks that looked like an Onix. Following that they attempted to use Tracey's Marill's hearing to find it and finally felt they might be on to something when it pointed to a smaller island a short distance away from the beach it had led them too.

"It's quite plausible that it would live there. After all, that island can't get many visitors if any and I bet it doesn't want to be disturbed much." Ash pointed out.

"Yeah, but how do we get over there?" Tracey asked. As he did so the tide began to rapidly withdraw and as it got low enough it revealed a sand bar stretching out to the island. "I don't believe it."

"So the low tides reveal that this is all just one big island instead of two." Mateo observed.

"Well I say let's go, the Crystal Onix is apparently somewhere on that island so let's find it." Ash said before setting off across the sand bar with everyone else hot on his heels. Once they arrived on the island they began to follow Marill's lead once again and it soon led them to a cave. Further inside the cave was a large chamber with a lake in it. Dotted around the room were large clusters off glass crystals.

"This must be where the Crystal Onix lives." Cynthia said before Ash felt its presence and spoke to it.

"_Hello there."_

"_Gah… Who are you?" _The Crystal Onix replied.

"_I'm Ash, a Pokémon trainer. I came here because I was hoping to see you. There's someone else with me who wishes to capture you as he believes you could inspire him to make beautiful glass sculptures like his grandfather before him who was apparently inspired by you."_

"_Hmm… I remember revealing myself to a pure hearted human once. His love for his craft was clearly unparalleled and I can sense that your companion has great love for it too but whether or not he is worthy to catch me only time will tell. He will not succeed in catching me here but if he impresses me in the right ways I will join him after I have performed my task. That task involves you young trainer. My kings and queens have sent me here to find a trainer named Ash, they seek to speak with you and you alone so when I have battled this other man, will you come with me?"_

"_Of course, it would be an honour to meet the kings and queens of Onix."_

A loud Onix-like chuckle resounded around the room before he spoke to Ash once more and erupted from the water he was hiding in. _"They are far more than just the kings and queens of Onix, they are the kings and queens of all rock types that are not legendary."_

"It's the Crystal Onix!" Mateo yelled as if nobody had already realised.

"Yeah, but how is it able to stay in that water?" Tracey asked.

"The water must slide right off its crystal skin instead of erode it like it does with rock. I guess that means any water type attacks you were planning to use probably wouldn't be much help either Mateo." Ash theorised.

"In that case I'll use my glass making partner. I choose you Charmeleon!" Mateo called. "Use your flamethrower Charmeleon." A stream of fire shot from Charmeleon's mouth and struck the Crystal Onix, making it roar in pain.

"Of course!" Ash cried. "The lower melting point of glass crystal must make it more susceptible to fire type attacks."

"Incredible." Tracey mumbled as he tried to sketch the Pokémon.

"Charmeleon, ember!" The small fireballs of the attack shot out and struck the Onix and it roared in pain once again. As it reared back Mateo froze, only now could he see the true beauty of the creature, its complete magnificence as it dived into the water to put out the flames, greatly weakened.

"Aren't you going to catch it Mateo? Now's the perfect chance?" Cynthia asked.

"No, I don't have to any more. For a minute I felt something strange when I looked at that Onix, the feeling's hard to describe. But now I have the inspiration I need to start working again. Thank you friend, thank you for that inspiration."

The Onix uttered several roars and Ash translated them for all to understand. "Onix says 'You have passed my test human and when my task is done I will join you. But for now I must fulfil the purpose I came here with.'"

"It'll really join me, but what purpose might it have here?"

"That purpose would be me; apparently it wants to take me to meet a few Pokémon it knows as they have asked to see me. Once I've spoken to them it will bring me back to the island and join you. So I'd better get going so I can get back sooner, I'll see you guys in a while." Ash told them all before he, Lucario and Pikachu climbed onto Onix and it dived underwater.

"Well I guess we'd better head back to our house for now then." Mateo suggested and as nobody had any better ideas they all complied.

* * *

The Crystal Onix soon surfaced at the other end of an underwater tunnel, just as Ash and his Pokémon were running out of breath. It began travelling down massive tunnels, wide enough for ten Onix to move side by side in it easily, and they soon started taking turns here, there and everywhere as they entered a labyrinth like area. After about an hour of travelling overall, mostly in a slightly downwards direction, they came out into an enormous cavern.

The cavern was easily a hundred Onix lengths tall and possibly more than a thousand long and wide for Ash could not see the ends and he could see a great distance from atop the Crystal Onix. They travelled through the chamber which was inhabited by vast numbers of rock type Pokémon and eventually came to a large building within it, the only building within it.

The Crystal Onix lowered itself and Ash and his Pokémon dismounted it before it spoke to them. _"Inside this building you will find the Crystal Council, they are the three kings and three queens that preside over rock type Pokémon. Like me they are composed of crystals of some sort or another but their crystals show them as our rulers while mine simply shows me as their messenger. You will likely learn more about it all inside so I suggest you enter and keep our leaders waiting no longer."_

After speaking it moved back and Ash nervously began to enter the building, wondering what Pokémon royalty could want with him. As he made it through the entryway he saw that the room was flooded with light from torches and chandeliers high above him. All were carved from rock but for the burning sections which looked to be some sort of vegetation.

"_Welcome Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum, we have been waiting for you."_ Said a deep and powerful voice. Ash looked around for its source and quickly found it directly in front of him, a short ways ahead of him rested six Onix; each of them composed of a crystal and all but one much larger than normal, that one was slightly smaller than an average sized Onix. The Onix that had spoken was probably the largest and was composed of a deep black crystal that made Ash feel like he was looking into a lake at night.

"_Sorry about that but I'm sure that, as the kings and queens of rock types, you have already heard of the events that occurred concerning your messenger and a friend of mine that lead to us being slightly late."_

"_We did indeed so we hold you at no fault."_ The same Onix chuckled. _"We have summoned you here as we wish for your assistance in protecting the future peace of the rock type Pokémon. Each of us has a child who will take our place when we must eventually leave it. This will likely not happen for at least another couple of hundred years but we wish for them to be strong enough for the responsibilities the position entails as soon as possible. Hence, we would like you to train the next Crystal Council. Do you accept?"_

"_Well I never turn down a Pokémon so as long as they are in agreement with this plan then I will take them with me. Might I ask what sort of crystals you are all made of though as I am somewhat intrigued?"_

"_Each of our children is of the same crystal as us so this will probably help you to work with them later on too. I am composed of obsidian."_ The large black Onix told him.

"_I am composed of ruby."_ A slightly smaller red Onix told him.

"_I am composed of sapphire."_ A blue Onix about the same size as the red one told him.

"_I am composed of emerald."_ Said a green Onix that was equal to the black Onix in size as far as Ash could tell.

"I am composed of diamond." A colourless and clear Onix told him, this one was similar to the green and black Onix in size but not quite there.

"_I am composed of pearl."_ The last Onix told him, this one was the one that was slightly smaller than an average Onix. It was iridescent and each of the boulders that formed its body was perfectly spherical, only the head was not round.

"_I see, I guess I'll have to think about how that will effect each of your children in battle as I suspect some of them will be more resistant to certain types of attacks than others. May I see them?"_ Ash asked.

"_Yes, come forth children."_ From the shadows behind them came six Onix, each of them looking very similar to their parents but for one aspect, size. These Onix may have been the children of the Crystal Council but only the pearl Onix looked it for it was not just slightly smaller than a normal Onix but half the size of one. The others on the other hand were much larger than their parents, the obsidian Onix was the size of three normal Onix and the rest of them were the size of two.

"_Wow, you guys are massive, we'll need to find some pretty large open spaces when I'm training you. Say, I have an idea. Instead of calling you all Onix, would you mind if I named each of you after the type of crystal you're made of? So you would be Obsidian, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond and Pearl." _Ash asked as he looked at each of them in turn._ "And maybe I could just call you the Crystal Council when I need to refer to all of you at once as that is what you will become one day."_

"_We have no objections to that; however some of our number have reservations about joining you and would therefore like you to prove your skills. Our parents have told us that you have trained a great many Pokémon well so if any one of them can defeat me, the strongest of us, then we will all join you without further hesitation. As it stands, some of us will join you even if you do not win."_ The Onix now known as Obsidian told him.

"_Okay, I accept your challenge. But I do have a couple of things I want to ask now so that once we are done fighting we can get on our way as soon as possible. The first thing is about you Obsidian, are you and your dad the leaders of the Council as you seem to do most of the talking?"_

"_Somewhat…" _Was Obsidian's only reply.

"_They are really; they are both stronger than the other members of the respective councils by quite a large gap. But that doesn't mean their votes count for more than the votes of the other members when making a decision."_ Emerald added.

"_Thanks Emerald, that explains a lot. Alright, my other question is for your parents. Am I allowed to know just how you became crystal Onix? It's just that I'm wondering if there are other crystal rock type Pokémon out there as well."_

"_Well our eggs were placed in areas where the crystals that we are composed of grow. As the eggs of rock type Pokémon develop they will tend to take some attributes similar to the rock they develop in, if there is no rock then it simply develops 'normally'. So rock types whose eggs developed surrounded by soft rock will be slightly softer for example. As a result, as our eggs developed we took on the attributes of the crystals our eggs were surrounded by and we became crystal Onix. It is possible that there are other crystal rock type Pokémon out there that we do not know about however most of them assist us in some way such as the glass crystal Onix that brought you here, his family all act as messengers for us and as he is leaving his post another of his own family will take his position."_ Ruby's parent explained.

"_Thank you, that is all I wished to know, shall we have this battle then Obsidian?"_ Ash asked as he considered everything that had been said.

"_Yes, choose your Pokémon."_

"_As you are the strongest of your group you will fight one of my strongest. Lucario, step forth."_ Lucario strode out from Ash's side until he was a short way in front of Obsidian. Obsidian started the battle off by diving at Lucario to tackle him. _"Dodge and attack with metal claw, although the crystals they're made of may be resistant to fire and water they're probably more brittle than rock so steel, fighting and ground type moves should be more effective than usual instead."_

Lucario jumped out of the way of the tackle and struck with glowing white claws that had grown from the spike atop his paw. _"Now bullet punch."_ Lucario dived at the Onix and began to repeatedly strike it at a very rapid pace with glowing red arms. His assault was brought to an abrupt end when Obsidian slammed his huge head into him before glowing golden and slamming its body on the ground.

Large cracks began running across the ground as it shook terribly and one of the fissured broke up the ground right next to Lucario, hurtling several rocks into him. _"Impressive but it won't be enough. Get back in the fight with an aura sphere and follow it up with flash cannon."_ Lucario formed the blue sphere of energy which Onix failed to dodge once it was thrown.

Lucario brought his paws together and a small ball of silver energy formed before it flew at the Onix. Obsidian dived underground to avoid the attack though and Ash and Lucario waited patiently for some sign of where it might come up. In the end Obsidian came up right beneath Lucario and grabbed him with his mouth. He flung Lucario to the floor before slamming his tail into the aura Pokémon.

Obsidian then roared and several rocks sprung out of the ground trapping Lucario where he was. _"Lucario, use close combat to break out of those rocks and then attack with force palm."_ The rocks exploded outwards as Lucario shattered them before charging at Obsidian once again. He struck him with his paw before there was an explosion of light and Obsidian was thrown to his back, paralysed for a few moments. _"Use this opportunity to attack with focus blast."_

Lucario threw a large ball of light-blue energy at the paralysed Pokémon and it hit home, dealing a huge amount of damage. Lucario dropped to one knee for a moment before struggling back to both feet. _'This battle is obviously taking its toll on Lucario, I need to end it quickly,'_ Ash thought before speaking to his Pokémon once again. _"Lucario, you know how to end this."_

Lucario sped towards Obsidian as it struggled back up only to be met with a barrage of powerful kicks and punches. He saw a punch heading straight between his eyes and braced himself, knowing it would cause him serious injury when it made contact. But it didn't make contact, instead a pair of paws landed softly on his snout and he opened his eyes to see Lucario pointing an aura sphere directly at the point he had been about to strike.

"_I do not wish to harm you further, will you surrender?"_ Ash asked.

"_I surrender."_ Obsidian groaned before collapsing to the floor unconscious. His comrades quickly gathered around him but Ash made his way through them and began treating the Pokémon he had just battled. Obsidian soon regained consciousness and looked around to find Ash treating him._ "Why are you treating me, did you not want to capture me? I did lose."_

"_Well you said you would all join willingly if I won the battle and I did so I don't need to catch you in a pokéball just yet. Besides, I can't leave a Pokémon in this state. You got pretty beat up in that fight so you needed help and I could give it to you, so I'd rather get you feeling better before I do anything else."_

"_That I did." _Obsidian mumbled.

Once Ash had finished treating Obsidian he looked at his watch. _"Whoa… It's been almost two hours since I left my friends; I'd better get back soon. You six should go and say goodbye to anybody you want to now while I make a quick call, assuming my pokégram works down here, then I'll catch you and we can head on up to the surface."_

"_Very well, we will do so quickly and meet you back here."_ Emerald told him before they went over to their parents and several other Onix that had gathered. Ash pulled out his pokégram and attempted to call Professor Oak, fortunately it was able to work somehow despite being several miles underground.

"Hello, Oak Laboratory."

"Hi Professor, it's me Ash. I was wondering if I could send some Pokémon back to you."

"Of course you can Ash, which ones will you be sending?"

"Venusaur, Blastoise, my second Charizard and my two Pidgeot. Oh, I should tell you that my male Pidgeot has now taken up the name Aquila after we decided that either he or my other Pidgeot should have one."

"Very well Ash but why so many?" The researcher asked as he prepared the pokéball transporter.

"Well I'm about to catch six more Pokémon and I want to keep all my newly caught Pokémon with me for now. This way I'll still have a couple of spaces for new Pokémon. Come to think of it do you think you could transfer my giant Alakazam and Gengar over, I want to see if I can try and resolve their differences and a deserted island is probably the best place to do that?"

"Alright Ash, that will leave you with ten empty spaces until you catch those six, are you sure you don't want any others to join you?"

"Hmm… Why not send over Raichu and Scyther, I bet Raichu is dying for a battle with Pikachu and I hear there are quite a few islands with lots of strong bug types on them around here so Scyther might be able to help me train them or get some practice in."

"Alright then Ash, let's begin the transfers." A couple of minutes later Ash had made all the transfers and now had a team of fourteen Pokémon, soon to be twenty. "So what sort of Pokémon are you catching Ash?"

"Well all six are Onix but they're rather unusual to say the least. I'll explain how another time. Goodbye Professor."

"Alright Ash, call again soon." The call then shut off and the six Onix approached Ash.

"_What were you doing?"_ Pearl asked meekly, Ash got the feeling that she was one of the ones who had been reluctant earlier as she seemed somewhat scared. Ash wandered over to her and began rubbing her snout soothingly as he talked.

"_I was calling Professor Oak. I can carry a maximum of twenty-two Pokémon with me at once and he looks after the Pokémon that I don't have with me back at his laboratory where there's a big ranch with a few different environments. For example there are lakes for water type Pokémon but also rocky and slightly mountainous areas for rock type Pokémon such as yourselves, though you guys wouldn't mind the lakes would you."_ Ash explained, chortling as the last part. _"I just wanted to send some of my Pokémon back to him otherwise I would only be able to carry one new Pokémon with me after catching you guys. As it is I ended up asking him to send me four others anyway so it will still only be room for two but that's alright for now."_

"_I see. Will you ever separate us up and send one of us back while the others stay with you?"_ Sapphire asked.

"_No, I like all my Pokémon to have a close friend around most of the time and if I do ever split you up it would be more likely that the one would be with me for a battle. I'd probably have either another one of you or another Pokémon that you had become very close to with me at the same time to keep you company."_

"_That is somewhat relieving to hear."_ Ruby replied.

"_Don't worry, the needs of my Pokémon always come before the needs of a battle. Now, shall I catch you all and then we can all head up to the surface together?"_ Ash reassured them.

"_Yes, I think it is time we got underway."_ Obsidian confirmed so Ash pulled out six pokéballs and captured each one of the Onix, none of the pokéballs shook even once before confirming the capture. "Alright, we just caught six Onix!" Ash cheered as he posed with the six pokéballs balanced impossibly along his arm. Pikachu and Lucario laughed and joined him in the pose. He then released his new Pokémon and climbed onto Obsidian with Pikachu and Lucario before they headed outside where they were joined by the glass crystal Onix.

They took a slightly different path to go back and ended up coming out in cave on the main island, they followed another underwater passageway briefly to come up on the shore and then dug their way towards Mateo's house.

* * *

Back at Mateo's house he had just finished making a miniature Pikachu sculpture out of glass and thought it was perfect; he knew he finally had the inspiration he needed. Walking outside he found the others waiting in the garden but he couldn't see Ash anywhere. "Still no sign of Ash then?"

"No, and I'm beginning to get worried." Misty said.

"Oh come on Misty. Ash is a really strong trainer so I doubt you really need to worry." Cynthia reassured her though she was somewhat worried herself.

"But he's been gone for three hours now Cynthia. Who knows what could've happened after that Onix took him away."

"I'm sure he's fine." Tracey told her. Just then there was an explosion of soil from the grass next to them which attracted several passers-by and many of the local shopkeepers. When the flying soil and cloud of dust cleared they all saw the same incredible sight. Before them were seven majestic Onix composed entirely of different crystals and atop one of them, the largest Onix they had ever seen or heard of, sat a young boy, with two Pokémon, who was laughing as if this were an everyday occurrence, well to him it may as well have been.

"You didn't have to make quite such an entrance guys." Ash laughed. "You are supposed to be responsible Pokémon after all; you six aren't coming with me for a laugh you know."

"A-Ash?" Cynthia wondered aloud.

"Oh, hi guys. I'm sure you must have been worried so I'm really sorry but everything that happened was just so interesting. Oh… I just realised that Brock is going to be so jealous, he loves rock type Pokémon but he completely missed out on one of the most awesome rock type Pokémon adventures ever."

"Ash Ketchum get down here now!" Misty screamed in anger. "Do you have any idea how worried I was!? And then you turn up laughing as if you were gone for five minutes!"

"Whoa… There's no way I'm coming down when you're in that sort of mood. I can tell your just waiting for an opportunity to bring out your mallet. Oh yeah, Mateo, this guy wanted you to catch him after he saw your love for your craft so go ahead and catch him already." Ash said, pointing to the glass crystal Onix when he mentioned it.

"W-what?" Mateo asked.

"Catch. Him. Do I have to repeat it again?"

"N-no." Mateo stuttered as he pulled out a pokéball and held it out in front of him tentatively. The Onix leant in and tapped it with his snout so that he was absorbed into the pokéball by the beam of light.

Deeming that Misty had calmed down enough that he should be safe now, Ash jumped down from Obsidian with Pikachu and Lucario. "Crystal Council, return." He said and the moment they had returned to their pokéballs he was struck over the head heavily by a certain someone's mallet. He fell to the floor dazed and Cynthia rushed over to him.

"Oh my god Ash, are you okay? Was that really called for Misty? You may have been worried and angry but that was just unnecessary." She asked as she checked Ash's head for any signs of injury.

"Hmph." Was the only reply she got from Misty.

"Finally, a girl with a heart is travelling with us too." Ash mumbled, making Cynthia blush and Misty try to hit him with her mallet again. Fortunately for Ash, Cynthia stopped the mallet this time.

"That's enough Misty." She said sternly, making Misty feel like a scolded little girl again. Once she had seen to Misty she took Ash inside and found him an ice pack to place on the growing bump on his head. "So what actually happened in the end Ash?" She asked as the others walked into the room, the others quickly noticed that she was allowing Ash to rest his head in her lap and Misty wasted no time objecting.

"Hey, if Ash needs somewhere to rest his head then he can rest it on my lap!"

"And why should we trust you to look after him when it was you that put him in this state, purposefully I might add?" Cynthia countered, unable to figure out why Misty was so angry for it seemed she was just as oblivious to matters of the heart as Ash used to be.

"Well anyway, didn't you want to know what happened?" Ash said before Misty could get really angry. "After the glass Onix took me away from you guys we went down to this massive cavern and I mean really massive, as big as a city, which I think he called the Rock Kingdom. Apparently it's like a haven for rock type Pokémon, if they want to get away from trainers or live underground with others of their own kind then they can go there. Once we arrived he took me to meet the Crystal Council which is a set of six crystal Onix that rule over all rock type Pokémon other than the legendaries."

"Wait, didn't you have six crystal Onix with you when you arrived? Don't tell me you caught the Crystal Council." Tracey wondered.

"No, nothing like that, well maybe a little like that. Basically we talked for a bit and it turned out that they wanted me to take their children, the members of the next Crystal Council, with me and train them. They wanted to ensure that their successors would be strong enough to deal with all the responsibilities so they asked me to train them and make them stronger. Once I battled and defeated the strongest of the next Crystal Council they allowed me to catch them, I decided to call them 'Crystal Council' as a group and by the crystal they're made of individually."

"What are they made of then?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"Well their names are Obsidian, Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Diamond and Pearl. Ruby, Sapphire and Pearl are all girls while the others are guys. Apparently they also have an acute sensitivity to the crystals they're made of so if we ever end up near a diamond, for example, while Diamond is out then he will probably sense it and let us know which I think could be really useful."

"Wow…" Everyone muttered.

"Hey Mateo, I was wondering if, now that you've got your inspiration, I could pay you to make some sculptures for us."

"Of course you can Ash, in fact I've already made a Pikachu sculpture for you but I won't accept any payment for it. The rest you're free to pay for as I can't really afford to give out any more gifts at the moment I'm afraid."

"Wow, thanks Mateo. I was hoping to get a sculpture of all of us and our Pokémon to send home then I'll get a Lucario one for myself too. What do you guys want a sculpture of?" He informed Mateo, turning to Misty, Tracey and Cynthia.

"You'll really buy one for each of us?" Cynthia wondered.

"Of course I will, you're all my friends and I have enough money to splash out once in a while."

"In that case I want a Togepi sculpture." Misty said.

"I'd like one of that Onix to remember this adventure by." Tracey proposed.

"I'd like one of everyone here if that's alright." Cynthia told them hesitantly.

"Why's that?" Misty asked.

"Well I don't know if I'll ever see you guys again after we go our separate ways but I've already had a lot of fun so I want to be able to remember you all. And what better way than to have a sculpture of you all?"

"That's fine Cynthia, I think it's a great idea. Kind of similar to the reason I'm getting the one I'm sending home too." Ash told her.

"Thanks Ash." She mumbled.

By the end of the day all the sculptures had been made and the group was smiling happily as they made their way to the next island on Gyarados and Lapras.

* * *

**So several new Pokémon, a gym badge and a new travelling companion. Not bad for a single chapter. I think this is the longest chapter I have written yet apart from the next one but it was incredibly short before I added the Crystal Onix section which was originally planned to be in the next chapter. I'm glad it wasn't though as that chapter would then have been nearly twenty thousand words long and I think that is a bit too long for anything other than one of the films perhaps. Not even sure if they'll be that long.**

**Don't forget to please leave a review and any requests or suggestions you might have.**


	9. Putting the Past in the Past

**Author's Note**

**Hello there again everyone.**

_**Quite Important announcement.**_

**First things first I 'm pretty sure now that I will have to lower the frequency with which I release new chapters. I'm not even sure if I will be able to get the next one out on time as I haven't been able to do as much writing recently due to the fact that I'm preparing for university. Hopefully I will get at least that chapter finished this week as well as the last preparations for uni as I move in next Saturday. I'm not going to set any new schedule yet as I will have to test the rate at which I can write them before I promise anything.**

_**Announcement over**_

**I'd like to thank you all as I'm pretty sure that the last chapter got the most reviews I have ever had and they all had some positive words in my opinion.**

**Due to the fact that only a few people have made any comment on the subject I will not be making any conscious effort to use shorter sentences for now. The matter of rambling as one person mentioned might be a different problem for me to look into though so I'll give that a bit of thought.**

**The change with Ditto happened quickly for a reason. Ditto was abandoned by Damian just like Charizard was, as a result Charizard was able to get to the root of the problem almost immediately and convince him that Ash, and most trainers, were better than Damian. Perhaps I didn't make that quite clear enough and if so I apologise.**

**As for the Crystal Onix making Ash overpowered. Having six makes no difference in a battle as a trainer can only use one Pokémon at a time in most official battles. Their individual strength is quite high I will admit but the Pokémon participating in most major leagues will be quite well trained. Also, due to Ash's display at the Indigo League, trainers will be working harder and as a result the competition will become tougher in general. As for being big, every form of Pokémon media has made it quite clear that size is irrelevant if you act accordingly. For example, in the shows Pikachu have defeated Onix which are much larger and have a resistance to their main attacks and Ash's Cyndaquil has defeated a Steelix too. Hence, size is completely negligible. Also, once trained, Ash will use his Pokémon less in minor battles as he wants to give his newer Pokémon some training and battle experience. Those Pokémon would only be used to battle other trainers in Leagues and against strong opponents such as Elite's and rivals.**

**Now, Ash not acting like an 11 year old? I completely agree to be honest. But then how much does he act like a normal 10 year old in the shows and that's without the immense responsibility he has accepted in becoming the trainer of two legendary Pokémon. I often wish to make him act more that way but I'm honestly unsure of exactly how someone that age would act and don't want to change his character again really.**

**A couple of you mentioned that you find my origin for the crystal Pokémon interesting and seemed interested in the idea of me using it again. I already have plans to use something similar but not for quite a long while and they will be very closely related. I haven't yet decided on whether or not to introduce any other instances or not of crystal Pokémon as, although I find it really cool, I don't want him to have too huge a number of crazily rare Pokémon like that. After all, in the anime world and my world, crystal Pokémon are much, much rarer than both pseudo-legendaries and fossil Pokémon so it's not something that I want to throw about willy-nilly.**

**That's all, I think, other than speech types so here we go:  
"Normal Speech"  
_"Telepathic Speech"  
'Private Thoughts'  
_'Quoting Someone/Something'**

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Putting the Past in the Past and Making New Friends.**

Ash and his friends were now on a small deserted island called Satsuma Island. It was a circular island with a hemi-spherical hill in the centre and a small rocky plateau coming out of the top similarly to a stem. They had just arrived and were setting up camp as night would set in a few hours later and they wanted to be ready. Ash also wanted to get it done quickly because there was something else he had in mind to do on this island

As they finished the last preparations Ash spoke up. "Alright guys I've got a couple of Pokémon that have a problem I want them to get past so I can work with them properly. Because of that I'm going to head off to another beach for a while and I'll be back in about an hour to cook dinner, whether I succeed or not." He then walked off to find another beach large enough to deal with the two Pokémon he had in mind.

This was going to be Cynthia's first night with the group and she was surprised by Ash's statements. "Ash has problems with some of his Pokémon? I thought they would all respect him because of his skills. And does he really cook dinner? I would have thought someone else would as he doesn't really seem like the cooking type."

"Well I can't think of any Pokémon that don't obey him, even his Fearow seemed to start listening to him immediately which is surprising. But then, come to think of it, there were two Pokémon that Ash flat out refused to use in the Pokémon League. He wouldn't even show them to us because whenever they are near each other, even if one is in a pokéball; they apparently go crazy trying to fight each other." Misty told her, wondering if it was those two.

"I wonder what they are…" Tracey mumbled. "But to answer your other question Ash does do the cooking. I was somewhat surprised too when I found out but it's really good. Why wouldn't his Fearow listen to him though Misty, I know they've been called troublesome before but they still tend to respect trainers that catch them?"

"Oh, well this Fearow is, how shall I put it… a special case. On Ash's first day as a trainer Pikachu wouldn't do a thing he asked so he ended up throwing a small rock at a Pokémon in order to try and weaken it for capture. Ash thought it had been a Pidgey because he couldn't see much of it at all but it was actually a Spearow. Basically, Ash and Pikachu had to run for their lives from a whole flock of Spearow and in the end Ash managed to gain Pikachu's trust as they escaped from the Spearow." Misty explained.

"When we returned to the Pallet Woods, where the Spearow was from, on our way here to the Orange Islands it had evolved into a Fearow and attacked Ash with its flock of Spearow. Ash managed to defeat it after his Pidgeotto evolved to defend Ash's honour and caught it. We thought that it would be hostile because of their first encounter but it seems that Ash beating it overcame that so it respects him now." She continued.

"Wow, that's a pretty impressive story…" Cynthia observed.

"Believe me, the full version is much better and we've had a lot of more interesting adventures in the time since."

"That's kind of hard to believe but for some reason I do believe you. You and Ash must be really close though it you've been through so much."

"We are, I love him but unfortunately he doesn't feel the same way so I'm trying to make him love me or at least give me a chance. So far I've had no success." Misty said sadly.

"That's too bad Misty but I'm sure you can convince him somehow." Cynthia encouraged with a smile.

* * *

On a long and wide beach a good way down the coast Ash was preparing to try and solve a problem. "Alright then. Lucario, Pikachu, I want you two to be ready to battle them if necessary. Hopefully a threat of a repeat of our first encounter will calm them long enough for me to find out what is wrong." He explained to the two and they agreed before dropping into a stance ready for battle. "I choose you, Gengar and Alakazam." Ash said as he hurled two pokéballs into the air, the two Pokémon from the ancient city of Pokémopolis appeared before him and the moment they spotted each other they readied to fight.

"That's enough you two!" Ash yelled forcefully and the two stopped for a second to look at him. "If you don't want a repeat of the first time we met then I suggest you settle down, I want to talk to the both of you." The two Pokémon reluctantly agreed, knowing that they would be beaten to a pulp by his Pokémon but still not liking it. Alakazam sat on one side of Ash while Gengar sat on the other; they continued to glare at each other as they waited for Ash to speak.

Ash decided that now would be a good time to switch to telepathy. _"Alright then you two, I want each of you to tell me why you are fighting the other starting with Gengar. You'll get your turn in a minute Alakazam so just wait patiently and listen."_

"_Well if that's all you want to know then I'll happily tell you. I'm fighting because… I'm fighting because… I'm fighting because… I can't remember why actually. I guess it's just that I've been doing it for so long that it's a part of me."_ The giant ghost Pokémon replied.

"_And you now Alakazam."_ Ash said.

"_Umm… It's kind of embarrassing but I can't remember either. All I do remember is that it was important when we started so it probably still is."_ Alakazam told him as he scratched the back of his head mareepishly.

"_I'm pretty sure it won't be any more as hundreds of years have passed since you started fighting. So let me just confirm my theory. Other than this no longer relevant reason; you two only battle each because you want to battle and you were the only ones around, not because you specifically dislike each other?"_

"_Yes."_ The two replied in unison and when they realised this they glanced at each other and chuckled.

"_In that case the problem is easy to solve. If you train with me then I can use you in battles against other trainers and I'll let you spar with each other and my other Pokémon to keep strong. That way you can keep battling and I won't have any problems as long as you don't hurt each other too much and don't do too much damage to the area."_

"_Really?"_ Alakazam asked.

"_Of course, almost all of my Pokémon love battling so you should always be able to find someone up for a fight at the same time as you and when you're with me I can offer you battles against other trainers as well as sparring matches in training so I can't see any down side for you guys. You'll also be able to come out of your pokéballs more that way and I'm sure you'd rather come out at least once a day or every other day wouldn't you?"_

"_Yes."_ They replied in unison again before Gengar spoke alone. _"Hahaha… I guess we've been battling each other so long that we've become an awful lot like each other."_ This made everyone laugh as they realised how right he was. _"I'll agree then."_ He finished and then Alakazam added his choice.

"_I will agree too. I'd love to get to battle some more."_

"_Good, I'm glad that was so easy to sort out. Why don't we have a quick first training session as there's still a bit of time before I need to head back and make dinner."_ The two Pokémon cheered and he set to work on getting them more battle capable by training things like their speed, strength and endurance.

* * *

Ash's training session was just finishing. The last thing he had done was have a battle to satiate their appetite for it. He pitted Lucario and Pikachu against Gengar and Alakazam in a double battle and found that the two worked very well together. It seemed that after battling each other for so long they knew each other's weaknesses and that allowed them to cover for their partner when necessary. As a result they managed to hold their own against Pikachu and Lucario for a lot longer than he had originally expected but it pleased him that they were making such fast progress.

Just as Ash was about to return the two he felt a growing sense of pain in the distance, as if something in great pain was slowly approaching them. "Do you feel that too guys?"

"_Yes, I suspect it is an injured Pokémon. Should we go to it Ash?"_ Lucario asked.

"Yes. Could you teleport us to it or at least closer Alakazam?"

"_As you wish."_ Alakazam told him before they disappeared in a flash of white light.

When they reappeared they were in a clearing in the nearby forests and Ash could feel that the source of the pain was very nearby and still approaching. "Thank you Alakazam. Return, Alakazam and Gengar. Now you two, let's find this Pokémon." Ash said before setting out towards it with Pikachu on his shoulder and Lucario by his side.

After sprinting through the trees for several minutes they found a small Pokémon stumbling along, barely managing to stand. Its legs finally gave out the moment it saw Ash. The Pokémon had golden fur and several black stripes as well as tufts of long cream-coloured hair. It was a shiny Growlithe but that wasn't what Ash cared about, all he cared about was the huge number of injuries on its body.

"Lucario, I need you to try and use heal pulse on Growlithe. I know you haven't been able to master it yet but I'm counting on you because it can't take medicine in this state."

Lucario nodded. _"I understand Ash and I will not fail you."_ He said as he approached the small Pokémon and placed his paws on it. Waves of light pink energy began to radiate from Lucario's paws and bathe the injured Growlithe in healing energy.

"That's it Lucario. Keep it up." Ash encouraged as he continued working on a medicine to give Growlithe once Lucario had done all he could. A couple of minutes later the medicine was ready and Lucario stumbled back as he released the move, tired from the exertion. "Take a rest Lucario. I'll give him this medicine and then once you've recovered your energy we'll take Growlithe back to the beach where it will be safe for the night."

Lucario simply nodded his head as Ash began to feed the barely awake puppy Pokémon the medicine. After a few minutes Ash scooped Growlithe up into his arms and he could tell how young it was from the way it curled up close to the warmth of his body. The group headed now headed back to the beach where the others were waiting for them.

* * *

A quarter of an hour later Ash and the Pokémon strode into the campsite. "Ash, where were you? We were beginning to worry." Cynthia asked as she spotted them and the other two looked relieved at the sight of them.

"Sorry I was late but I felt a Pokémon in pain and went to find it. I found this shiny Growlithe in the forest and it was really badly injured so I had Lucario use heal pulse before I gave it some medicine. Now it just needs to eat and rest for the night and it should be just about recovered. I'll give it a bit more medicine in the morning just to be sure but for now I'll get dinner ready for everyone.

And so Ash set about making dinner for the humans while he got out some pokéchow he had made shortly before they left home to give to the Pokémon. He called out all of his own Pokémon and fed them before going over to Growlithe and putting a dish of pokéchow in front of it and sprinkling some Oran berries on top of it. "There, that should help you feel even better. Once you've eaten you should get some sleep and you don't need to worry about the Pokémon that did this to you coming back. Lucario and I are on guard even when we're asleep so you'll be safe with us around."

A short while later the dinner Ash was cooking had finished and he called everyone over. "Hey guys, dinner is ready!" After it had all been served up they quickly began to tuck in.

"Oh my god Ash, this food is incredible!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Why don't you have your own restaurant?"

"I'm not that good Cynthia. I'll admit that my food is nice but it isn't as good as it could be." Ash said with a slight blush at her obvious love for his food. It bugged him that her compliments affected him more than those of the others yet he couldn't figure out why.

"You can make stuff that tastes better than this!?" She almost screamed. "Will you please teach me a bit so I can cook nicer food when we end up going our separate ways?"

"Sure I can and I'll be happy to teach you some stuff about cooking. Why don't we start in a proper kitchen at the next Pokémon Centre and after you've got the basics up we can practice on a campfire?"

"That would be great Ash."

"This really is incredible food Ash." Tracey observed, eating at a rather more sedate pace than Cynthia. "But I was wondering, did you say your Lucario used Heal Pulse?"

"Yeah, we've been working on it for a while now and he'd been unable to master it but the pressure of the situation gave him the extra push he needed to master it."

"Wow, heal pulse is only supposed to be able to be used by pretty strong Lucario so yours must really be something."

"Oh Lucario is strong alright. He, Pikachu and a few of my other Pokémon are on a par with, or in his and Pikachu's case stronger than, some legendaries."

"Well I can believe that they would be strong Ash but I think you're exaggerating there."

"I'm not. It is a fully tested fact."

"What!? But that would mean you would have to have met legendary Pokémon Ash."

"And who says I haven't. Haven't you noticed that there are two pokéballs that I've never actually used." Ash said as he reached for his pink and purple pokéballs. "Come on out Mew, Mewtwo. It's time you two got some fresh air and nice food."

"_Finally out of that contraption again."_ Mewtwo said as he stretched himself. _"I wish you would let me out more often Ash."_

"Mew, no flying off to explore! You'll get a chance to explore with me tomorrow. As for letting you guys out, I wish I could but you know that I can't let you out in public places without drawing Team Rocket's attention which we want to avoid until we're strong enough to wipe them out in one go."

Mewtwo let out a deep sigh. _"I know Ash, it just gets frustrating."_

"I'm sorry Mewtwo but I'll let you fly on your own tomorrow, just as long as you stay in contact."

"_Thank you Ash."_

"How come we can hear Mewtwo speaking?" Cynthia asked after gathering the courage to speak up. Mewtwo looked at her with confusion plastered across his face.

"Oh, of course. I forgot to introduce you guys even if you could tell they were here, Mewtwo and Mew. Mewtwo, Mew, these two are Tracey and Cynthia and they're two of our new friends. Brock decided to stay behind at Professor Ivy's lab so we won't see him for a while but I know we will see him again. Tracey, Cynthia, I think you already know who these two are."

"I do but how on earth did you catch them?" Cynthia asked.

"I didn't catch them, they joined me. If you want the full story you're better off asking Mewtwo or Misty because it's not a story I can bring myself to tell." Tracey and Cynthia could tell from his voice that this was not up for debate so they asked Mewtwo and he gave them the story, shocking them.

"I'm so sorry Ash; I never would have even brought it up if I knew…" Cynthia said sadly.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know so it's not your fault, I just don't like talking about it myself because it brings the memories back up. Now I think you two should go and introduce yourselves to the new guys on the team, I'll bring some food over for you in a minute." Mew immediately darted off at the prospect of new friends as Mewtwo followed her at a slightly slower pace, showing that he was the more mature one even if he was technically younger.

"I guess some of your Pokémon really are as strong as legendaries then, they'd have to be otherwise those two would get bored of only ever sparring with each other." Tracey pointed out as he recovered from his shock.

"Yeah, not many can keep up with them but there are a few who can challenge them somewhat. Salamence might be able to pose a good challenge for them now he's evolved too as he should be substantially stronger and faster now."

"And my Gabite gave your Salamence a challenge…" Cynthia said, trailing off as she realised what that might mean.

"Yes, that means that your Gabite is nearly strong enough to spar with them and if he gets strong enough I will let him. Though you should know that those two have another advantage that Mew can learn just about every move there is and Mewtwo can learn a great many, even if not all, of those that Mew can. That means ice type moves as well which would devastate Gabite so I would hold back on it for now and focus on getting him as strong as you can first."

The trainers continued to talk, Misty finally joining in, as the night set in and a couple of hours later they went to bed to get some sleep. Cynthia noticed that Ash stayed outside with his Pokémon for the night and as he settled in against a tree Growlithe curled up in his lap and several of his smaller Pokémon also came over to sleep beside him. _'He's incredible. He's only known that Growlithe for a few hours and it already seems like it wants him as its trainer, he has two legendary Pokémon and he also has several other really strong Pokémon. He could be really helpful to me, I'm just glad he's such a nice guy. He looks kind of cute like that too.'_ Cynthia thought. _'Wait, cute? That's just silly. And I can't let Misty hear me thinking things like that either or she'll probably break out that mallet again.'_

* * *

The next morning Ash awoke to find most of his Pokémon dotted around the campsite but Pikachu and Raichu were curled up on either side of him while Growlithe was in his lap. _"Growlithe seems to have taken a great liking to you Ash; will you take him with us if he wants to come?"_ Mewtwo asked from a branch above Ash.

"_Of course I will. But first I want to find out what happened to him. A Pokémon his age shouldn't be walking around without its parent and I want to know how it got all those injuries too. If it was a Pokémon or trainer and Growlithe wants some payback then I'll help it before anything else."_

"_A good plan. I've had a look myself and I doubt you'll like what he tells you but I'll keep it to myself for now."_

"_Thanks for the heads up Mewtwo."_ Ash said before he extricated himself from his Pokémon and began cooking everyone a nice breakfast. When the smells of cooking started filling the air they began to wake.

"You're up early Ash." Cynthia observed from her tent as she got ready for the day.

"This isn't that early for me. I'm often up earlier than this to meditate with Mewtwo and focus my psychic powers. Anyway, breakfast will probably be ready in five minutes so I was just about to wake you guys to come and get it."

"Great, I can't wait to try some more of your cooking Ash."

"Come on… It isn't that good."

"It is but I was wondering, how did it go when you tried to talk to those Pokémon you mentioned yesterday?"

"Oh, it went really well. You see they were always fighting each other and destroying everything in the area when they were near each other. But it turns out the only reason they fought each other now was because they were the only other Pokémon that could put up a fight but now I've offered to battle with them and let them spar with my Pokémon they're quite happy. In fact they work really well together, they're the Gengar and Alakazam I have with me. The ten foot tall ones with tattoos."

Cynthia poked her head out of her tent to look at the two briefly. "Wow, they do look like they could be pretty powerful with some training. Are you going to be training all your Pokémon today then?"

"Possibly, it depends on what happened to Growlithe. Mewtwo knows but all he told me was that I wouldn't like it so I'll probably be helping Growlithe with whatever the problems he had were."

"Even though it's a wild Pokémon you're going to help it?"

"Yeah, I'll help any Pokémon that needs it. Whether it is mine, another trainer's or a wild Pokémon I will do my best."

"Wow, that's pretty commendable. Maybe I should start taking a leaf out of your book and I might be able to befriend more Pokémon."

"It feels great when you're successful too so you get your own reward too. Why don't you help me out today and you'll see what I mean."

"Sure, why not." With that said Cynthia came out of her tent in her usual gear and a few moments later Misty and Tracey joined them and they dug into their breakfast while the Pokémon were given their own. After dinner they all cleaned up the many dishes and pieces of cutlery that they had used that morning and the previous night.

"Alright Growlithe, I want to talk to you about what happened to you yesterday. Is that okay with you?" Ash said as he walked over to the small Pokémon and sat down in front of it. It curled up in his lap again as Cynthia sat beside Ash as well.

"_Okay."_ It said meekly, its fear clear.

"Can you tell me why you weren't with your mother? No Pokémon as young as you should be away from your parents." Ash continued aloud so that Cynthia could get the gist of the story before he explained the details.

"_My mommy made me leave. She said that no child of hers would be the colour I am."_ Growlithe explained as tears came to its eyes at the memory.

"So your mother rejected you just because you're a shiny Pokémon, that's despicable." Ash growled angrily. "A parent should look after and support their child no matter what and for her rejection to be such a clearly ridiculous reason pisses me off." Ash had to calm himself to prevent his psychic powers from flaring before he continued. "So did she give you those injuries or did they come from something else?"

Growlithe had looked up in hope at Ash's anger; it could see that Ash truly cared about it despite knowing almost nothing about it so it cuddled closer to him. _"The Beedrill injured me. My mommy was taking all their favourite food so they got angry and attacked me to get revenge. I tried to run away but they were too fast and I couldn't escape. They eventually hurt me enough that they were satisfied and left me alone, after that I just stumbled through the forest till you found me."_

Ash was visibly shaking with rage by this point and Cynthia moved back slightly, just in case he did something, as he began to speak. "So the Beedrill injured you. That could make things easier, do you want to try and get some payback on them? I can tell you've got a lot of potential and will learn quickly so with you being a fire type I think we could teach you only a couple of moves and get you slightly stronger and you'd be able to get some revenge. So if you want to try and get some payback then I suggest you let me help you train for the day and then you go and get them rather than just charging off at the first opportunity."

"_Yeah, that sounds like it would be good. All your Pokémon look really strong so I bet they'll be able to help me. Could I call you daddy as well?"_

"Well in that case we'll get started on training in just a little while and if you want to call me daddy then does that mean you want to come with me after this?"

"_Yeah, I want to go everywhere with you!"_

"In that case welcome to the family. I'll catch you officially once we sort out those Beedrill."

"_Yay!"_ Growlithe cheered as it got up and started bouncing around.

"Alright guys, listen up. Training starts in half an hour on the beach we were on yesterday. Pikachu, Lucario, Alakazam and Gengar can lead you there. No messing around on the way and Mewtwo, you can go exploring now or after training, the choice is yours."

"_I will train first Ash; otherwise the others will start catching up with me."_ Mewtwo replied with a slight smirk.

"Alright then guys, see you then. Cynthia, do you want to get some of your weaker Pokémon transferred over so you can work with them?"

"That would be good." She told him.

"In that case I suggest you call your Professor on my pokégram and use it to transfer them. Here you go." He handed her device and she input a phone number before someone picked up on the other end.

"Hello, Professor Rowan speaking." Said a voice that Ash recognised.

"Hello Professor Rowan, it's Cynthia. I was wondering if you could send me a few of my Pokémon."

"Oh Cynthia, it's been a while since I heard from you. It's not like you to get some of the Pokémon here on your team; you usually seem to think they're too weak so what made you change your mind?"

"Well I met another trainer and he convinced me that all Pokémon have potential so I'm going to start training them."

"That's good to hear Cynthia. But might I ask how you expect to receive them as you don't seem to be in a Pokémon Centre or other such location with transfer capabilities?"

"Well the trainer that convinced me to give my other Pokémon a try said I could train with him for a while and he let me use his pokégram to make this call so we can use it to make the transfers."

"Ah, I see. He must be quite the wealthy trainer to have a pokégram."

"Not wealthy Professor Rowan, just successful." Ash said as he positioned himself so that Rowan could see him.

"Ah, Ash Ketchum is the trainer. That does explain things. Though I would suggest that you are wealthy even if that wealth didn't contribute to this."

"I suppose you're right." Ash commented as he realised that the Professor was right.

"Well I'm just glad you managed to convince Cynthia to try and train some of her other Pokémon. Which ones would you like Cynthia?"

"I thought about it and decided that I would start off with Togekiss, Roselia and Shellos."

"Hmm… Those three could probably be considered your weakest so I think it's a good idea. I'll transfer them now. Make sure to give it your all Cynthia and we'll speak again soon."

"Thank you Professor." Cynthia said as she took each pokéball when it appeared on the transporter and clipped it to her belt. "Alright then Ash, should we go and start training?"

"Yes, the other Pokémon should all be there by now." Ash said and set off to his training beach with Cynthia beside him and Growlithe just behind him. It had decided to stay with Ash instead of run off with all the other Pokémon.

* * *

Ash and Cynthia had just finished their training session and after Ash had given her some pointers she made quick progress with training her weaker Pokémon. Ash was proud of her for what she had achieved and was also proud of how quickly Growlithe had improved. Growlithe was already capable of some very powerful moves from birth and had learnt a few more under the guidance of some of Ash's Pokémon, mainly Charizard. He had also grown in strength and speed remarkably quickly and Ash was sure he would one day make a very fine Pokémon.

Ash's other Pokémon had been training with some guidance from Ash and some from each other. His newer Pokémon were quickly catching up with the older ones but Mewtwo and Mew were still staying well clear of all but a few of them in power.

Ash was now preparing to take on the Beedrill swarm with Growlithe and had used his psychic powers to 'scan' the island. He found only one Beedrill swarm and it was both low on numbers and its members were weak so Ash was sure Growlithe could handle it now.

"Here we go then Growlithe, there's only one swarm on the island and it's fairly near here. The fight will probably begin the moment they spot us so be prepared, I'll warn you when we get close to them." Ash said before he set out with Growlithe, Pikachu, Lucario and Cynthia.

They began walking into the forest and after about ten minutes Ash brought them to a stop. "The Beedrill are just through there so this is your last chance Growlithe, are you sure you want to do this?"

"_Yes! I'm going to show them that they picked on the wrong Pokémon!"_

"Good answer. Cynthia, I want you to stay back so you won't get hurt. Do you mind that?"

"No, not at all."

"Good, then let's go." With that said Ash stepped through a group of bushes and into a clearing. At the centre of the clearing stood an enormous tree that had around fifteen Beedrill on it and the moment Ash's group stepped into the clearing the Beedrill took to the air, locking their eyes on Growlithe. The Beedrill began to fly out towards Growlithe with their hostile intent clear.

"Alright Growlithe, start things off by circling them with Agility and then use double team to confuse them even more." Ash ordered and Growlithe began to sprint around the Beedrill in a large circle. He gradually made the circle smaller as he made several duplicates of himself that prevented the Beedrill from figuring out which side he was really on.

"Now use Leer!" All of the Growlithe glared at the Beedrill with red eyes as they circled and the Beedrill became terrified of the puppy Pokémon. "Now hit them with your heat wave attack!" Growlithe opened its mouth wide and shot a stream of flaming wind at the Beedrill. The majority of the Beedrill dropped to the floor unconscious but a few managed to stay in the air.

"Let's hit them with a flamethrower attack this time Growlithe!" A searing flame flowed from Growlithe's mouth and struck the remaining Beedrill knocking all but one of them out. "Okay Growlithe, as this guy is their leader let's finish this in a one on one. Stop using agility and double team." The many Growlithe disappeared until only one remained and that one jumped to Ash's feet as it slowed down.

The final Beedrill began to charge as it readied its stingers to attack. "Growlithe, use flare blitz!" The young one surrounded itself in a large flame and charged at the remaining Beedrill head on. The two collided and their attacks stalemated for a few seconds until Growlithe broke through and crashed into Beedrill's body heavily. There was an explosion and the bug type Pokémon was thrown to the floor unconscious with the rest of its swarm while Growlithe jumped back to Ash with a few scratches on its body.

"That was awesome Ash; I can't believe you managed to get Growlithe to be able to do that after just one day." Cynthia said as she approached him.

"Well all credit goes to Growlithe really. He was already pretty strong; he was just caught off guard yesterday and didn't want to fight them so he tried to run. He already knew the strongest moves he used there too; it seems he was born capable of using both flare blitz and heat wave which are exceptionally powerful moves. If you then add flamethrower into the mix he's got a good set of offensive fire type moves. Then you add the two simple evasive moves we used and he's sorted for a battle against weak bugs."

"I suppose you're right but I still think it proves your point about even weak Pokémon being capable of becoming strong. When I saw that Growlithe yesterday I wouldn't have thought that it was capable of being this strong and yet here it is the next day, proving me wrong."

"Well at least you're starting to see things the right way now. So Growlithe, do you still want to join me?"

"_You bet I do. You're the best daddy I could ask for!"_ Ash just laughed as he pulled out a pokéball and tapped it on Growlithe, capturing it officially.

"Well then, shall we head back to camp and decide on what to do for the rest of the day. I'm sure Misty won't be happy that I've spent another large period of time away from her." He said gloomily.

"Don't you like Misty Ash?"

"I like her, but she loves me while I just see her as a sister or close friend. I definitely don't love her, and I know what love feels like because both Misty and another girl have fallen in love with me since I discovered and started using my powers."

"Ah, so there isn't even the possibility that you didn't know what you were feeling. Well I still think you two would be cute together."

"Perhaps we would be cute, but I wouldn't be able to give her a happy life if I accepted her love without feeling any in return and Misty deserves a happy life."

"You know, there aren't many guys that would be so considerate of the girls feelings in a situation but you really are taking them into account so I won't bug you about it as I think you're doing the right thing."

"Thanks, it makes me feel a bit better to know that someone agrees with me." Ash finished before they walked the last few minutes back to camp.

* * *

The next day came and Ash and his friends had set out for another adventure. They were currently approaching a group of islands known as the Region Isles; each of the islands was almost identical in shape to one of the nearest five regions to the location. They even had smaller rivers and mountains in the same places as they were in the actual region.

"You know Ash; they say that there isn't anything on the Region Isles, not even Pokémon, so I'm not sure why you want to go there." Tracey said to the group.

"Trust me Tracey, wherever I go there are Pokémon or something equally interesting. So if we go to them then there will be something there, I don't know what but there will be something." Ash reassured him.

"Alright, just don't blame me if we get there and find nothing."

"By the way Ash, where on earth did you find your Gengar and Alakazam? I've never seen Pokémon of their species so large before and the tattoos are a new sight to me too. It sounds like it could be something really interesting to study." Tracey inquired.

"Oh, well I'm afraid you won't be able to find their like anywhere else. Excluding my Jigglypuff back at the Professor's ranch." Ash said. _'Hmm… That's a thought, maybe Jigglypuff will know why those two started fighting in the first place. I'll ask it next time I get it transferred.'_ He thought before continuing. "When I was on a training 'expedition' I accidentally ended up uncovering the ruins of the ancient civilisation Pokémopolis. Basically, some stuff happened and then those two came out of a pair of extremely primitive pokéballs. They started battling each other and were devastating the area, which was on the outskirts of Oak's lab, so I battled and caught them. I've barely used them since because I wanted to keep my other Pokémon out of harm's way and that's difficult with those two around. Now that they've put their anger with each other behind them though, it should be fine."

"Wow Ash, how do you manage to end up in all these situations?"

"Believe me, I have no idea. But it does act as further evidence of what I just said. We will find something on the Region Isles."

"I guess you're right about that."

* * *

The group arrived at Kanto Isle a short while later and landed on the beach. "So Ash, what do you plan to do to try and find Pokémon here?" Cynthia asked.

"Explore." Was the boy's straightforward answer. "Mew, Mewtwo, come on out."

"_Letting us out again so soon Ash, that's unusual."_

"Well this is another deserted island Mewtwo and I thought you'd like to come out some more. Besides, there are another four deserted islands for us to explore after this one. Growlithe, why don't you join us?" He said as he released his newest and youngest Pokémon.

"_Daddy!"_ Growlithe cheered before running over to Ash and rubbing against his legs. Mew had simply been zipping through the air, cheering about going on an adventure, the whole time.

"Alright then, why don't we head towards the smaller version Mount Silver? It acts as the border between Kanto Isle and Johto Isle just like the real Mount Silver is the border between the regions."

"That sounds like a good idea Ash, lots of Pokémon congregate around mountains too so that's as good a place as any to start looking for them." Misty observed and so the group set off towards the small mountain in search of Pokémon.

They arrived at the mountain half an hour later and spotted a cave which they decided to explore. "It's pretty dark in here isn't it?" Tracey pointed out as the entered into the large passageway.

"I can solve that. Could you three use flash?" Ash requested of Pikachu, Mew and Mewtwo. They were all happy to oblige and their fur lit up moments later. The light ran down the corridor a great distance, thanks to the fact that all three of them were using the move, and the group could now see clearly.

As the group delved deeper into the mountain Ash became aware of two other presences, he was sure they were Pokémon but he didn't know what type of Pokémon. "I told you we'd find something Tracey; I can sense two Pokémon up ahead. I don't know what they are but there are definitely two of them."

"Really? I guess you were right then, wherever you go the Pokémon follow."

"Hey look, the passage opens up ahead. It looks like there's some sort of chamber so that's probably where the Pokémon are." They continued down the passage until they exited into a cavernous portion, the light from the Pokémon couldn't penetrate to the furthest reaches of the room.

They were startled when a terrible screeching cry came from above. _"Leave our home!"_ Ash and the Pokémon heard.

"What was that?" Misty whispered in fear, moving closer to Ash in an attempt to feel safer.

"That was an Aerodactyl." Ash told her, recognising the audible cry.

"But they're extinct; they have been for a long time." Tracey argued.

"Trust me, that was an Aerodactyl. I got picked up by one once so I know what they sound like and these two seem to want us to leave, this is their home apparently so I guess it is only polite." Ash said but as he began to turn around to leave there was a flash of light and Charizard appeared. "Ah, I see. You want to battle them, don't you, since the last time you fought one it was a draw because of Jigglypuff."

"_You bet, I'm gonna prove to these overgrown lizards with wings that I'm much stronger than them!"_

"Umm… Charizard, you're an overgrown lizard with wings too…" Ash pointed out making Charizard scratch his head in embarrassment. "But you can still fight them if they accept your challenge."

"_Thanks Ash, though they do seem pretty strong. I know, why don't you catch them when I win? They seem like a breeding pair too so you could end up with some eggs from them as well and it would be nice to have some more strong opponents that can fly."_

"That seems like a good idea to me. Aerodactyl, I challenge you to a battle with my Charizard and you may work together as well! If we win then you become my Pokémon!"

"_We accept your challenge and will teach you our strength human. Your Charizard is no match for us!"_ Aerodactyl roared arrogantly, obviously he had been ruling the roost for too long.

"Pikachu, I want you on Charizard's back to give him some more light during the fight, his eyes aren't used to these conditions so I want him to at least have light." Ash told his Pokémon. Pikachu complied and quickly climbed onto Charizard's back before the flame Pokémon took off.

As they flew off Ash saw two Pokémon come into the illuminated area, one of them was a normal Aerodactyl while the other was a lighter pink with blue inner wing membranes. "Cool, it looks like one of them is shiny as well. Not that it really matters. Get this fight going with flamethrower Charizard."

A spout of flames shot from Charizard's mouth at the two fossil Pokémon but they dodged it and launched their own attacks. One of them created and launched a ball of silver energy at Charizard while the other flew at him with sparking fangs. "Dodge that ancient power and use thunder punch on the Aerodactyl attacking with thunder fang." Charizard flipped over the ancient power and landed a devastating punch on the incoming Aerodactyl.

The Aerodactyl's partner thought this would give it an opportunity to attack and dove at Charizard with its head glowing silver. "Charizard, counter that iron head with iron tail and then hit them both with flamethrower." Charizard swung around and its glowing tail met the head. Charizard soon overpowered the Aerodactyl and it was forced to the floor beside its partner. A flame once again approached the two but this time they were unable to escape it and suffered greatly as a result.

The two wild Pokémon slowly returned to their feet before they both sent a barrage of small rocks at Charizard. Charizard tried his best to dodge them but several still managed to strike him and that was enough to deal a fair bit of damage. "Alright then Charizard, get in close and hit them with dragon claw, after that use a hyper beam to finish them off!"

Charizard swiftly made his way towards the two Pokémon who were airborne once again and swiped at each of them with claws that were glowing blue. They were forced lower once again and had to struggle to avoid flying into several stalagmites. Just as they thought they had escaped crashing into the stalagmites they ended up crashing into each other and entangling themselves. The bright orange beam from Charizard was enough to finish them off and Ash threw a pair of pokéballs at their unconscious forms. One of them was teleported away and Ash picked up the remaining pokéball before making his signature pose. "We just caught two Aeordactyl!"

"Is Ash always like this, I noticed he did it when he caught Growlithe too?" Cynthia whispered to Misty.

"Yeah, it's kind of his thing." Misty replied before Mewtwo interjected.

"_Though Ash is intelligent, caring, practical and a good trainer he is still only an eleven year old at heart so the prospect of making new Pokémon friends is exciting to him."_

"I suppose that does make a lot of sense now that I think about it." Cynthia finished.

"Okay then guys, I'm going to call Professor Oak and transfer this Aerodactyl to him so it can stay with its partner. Say Charizard, do you want to go back two for a while and train with your 'brother'?"

"_I think I would like that Ash, it would be a nice change of pace."_

"Alright then, I'll just make the call." He pulled out his pokégram and dialled Professor Oak.

"Hello, Professor Oak speaking."

"Hi Professor, it's Ash. I take it you received the Pokémon I just caught?"

"Why yes Ash and I must commend you on the astonishing catch. Wherever did you find it?"

"I found it deep in a cave on Kanto Isle, I also caught its mate which is a shiny Aerodactyl and I wanted to transfer it, Charizard and my Fearow back to you."

"Of course Ash, just let me ready the transporter. By the way, your mother wanted me to let you know that your glass sculpture arrived yesterday and she thinks it was money well spent."

"Thanks for telling me Professor, I bet you can't wait to research my two Aerodactyl though can you?"

"Of course not Ash, one rarely gets the chance to study a living fossil Pokémon. I might even have to get my granddaughter over to help me out with them and all the other Pokémon. You should know as well that you've nearly caught up with Gary in the number of different species you have caught, even if not the total number."

"Well I'm not really too bothered about how many Pokémon I catch these days. I catch Pokémon that want to come with me, I want to catch or that my Pokémon recommend. For example it was Charizard that suggested I catch the two Aerodactyl, I would have simply left them alone if not for him."

"Ash! If you ever come across such a rare Pokémon again please promise me you will catch it!"

"I can't make any promises Professor but I'll try. You should know that I also caught a shiny Growlithe the other day."

"Really? Gary will be extremely jealous if he hears about that. He's wanted a shiny Arcanine more than any other Pokémon, but for Blastoise, since he was a child."

"Hahaha… Well we can't get everything we want can we but he might still find one yet. And he'll only be jealous if he hasn't matured over his training period which I doubt. He matured a lot after the Indigo League just like I matured a lot before it."

"Well I agree with that Ash, though I'm not sure he'll have matured as much as you. The change in your personality was incredible over those last few months Ash and I think only you could have pulled off such a big change and only with those two Pokémon on your team."

"I guess that's true."

"Well the transporter is ready so why don't you send those Pokémon over now?"

"Alright Professor, here you go." Ash then proceeded to send the three Pokémon to Oak.

"Ah, they've all arrived safely Ash, if there's nothing else I'll go now as I want to make a start researching these Aerodactyl of yours."

"There's nothing else Professor but you know, you're as childish as I am when you get excited over a new research topic."

"Hahaha… I think everyone else would agree with that too Ash. I hope we'll be able to talk again soon, goodbye." With that the call ended.

"Well that's that sorted then."

"Hey Ash, who's that Gary guy you mentioned? And why did you send Fearow back too?" Tracey inquired.

"Well Gary is my rival, we've been that way ever since we were kids but when I revealed that I had legendary Pokémon and won the Indigo League he began to respect me more. I haven't seen him since the Indigo League but I think we'll probably get along much better than we used to now. As for why I sent Fearow back, I just thought he might like a break and he's been with me for a while now. Plus I now have three spaces for new Pokémon I might want to catch instead of just one."

"Oh, that all makes sense then. Are there any Pokémon in particular that you want to catch?"

"Not really. It might be nice to get a couple more electric types at some point though as I've only got Pikachu and Raichu. I suppose maybe some bug types as well as the only bug type I've got is Scyther."

"Well we'll probably end up on Murcott Island at some point and that island is renowned for having lots of rare and powerful bug types."

"Great! I hope we get there soon but for now I've got other things to focus on. Shall we go and explore the other islands now?" Ash asked. His friends agreed and so they set of back up the passageway they had come down. Halfway there Ash tripped over something and fell flat on his face.

"Are you okay Ash?" Cynthia asked as she and Misty rushed over to him. After they had helped him up Ash looked at the floor to see what he had tripped on.

"Whoa, it's a dome fossil guys!" Ash exclaimed as he picked the item up. Tracey came over to have a look at it too.

"Wow, it really is. I've never seen one outside of a museum before." He said excitedly.

"Say, do you think that there might be more fossils on these islands? I mean people have never really explored them as they could never find any Pokémon, and it was decided that the islands weren't suitable for settlements, so nobody would ever have explored it much."

"You're right; it's completely possible that there are fossils all over the place. We should keep an eye out for them on the way back." That they did and not fifty metres further down the passage they found some more.

"Look, there's a pair of helix fossils in the wall over there!" Misty exclaimed. The group moved over to the wall to get a closer look.

"Yep, those are definitely helix fossils. If I can get them out of the wall do you want to take one Misty and I'll take the other?"

"Of course Ash!"

"Hey, what about us?" Cynthia complained.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find more fossils and if we don't then one of you can have mine. It's just that Misty is really fond of water types and the Omanyte that these fossils are based on are water types too. And I get the other one because we wouldn't get it out without me."

"I guess that's alright then. But how are you going to get them out in the first place than?"

"Well when we were travelling in Johto we came across a place called Grandpa Canyon. There was a big fossil rush going on at the time and after I remembered it I decided to carry some basic excavation kit with me. You know, hammer and chisel and a few other things." Ash explained as he rummaged around in his bag and found a small box containing the very tools he had just been talking about.

He extricated them from his backpack and set to work on trying to remove the fossils from the wall of the passage without damaging them. An hour later he had succeeded and the two fossils lay on the floor right in front of him. "Take your pick Misty."

"Thank you Ash." She said before reaching down and taking the slightly larger one. Ash then proceeded to pack the other one into his bag with the dome fossil before they continued out of the cave.

They found no more fossils along the way and soon exited the cave. "So what do you propose we do now?" Cynthia asked as they emerged into sunlight and the Pokémon stopped using flash.

"Well I think the Aerodactyl would have scared any other Pokémon off of Kanto Isle and Johto Isle as this mountain is the centre point of them so maybe we should try looking on Hoenn Isle next." Ash suggested.

"I think Ash is right. Aerodactyl are believed to be very aggressive and territorial so there probably aren't any Pokémon nearby if any." Tracey confirmed.

"Then to Hoenn Isle it is!" Misty cheered, happy with her new fossil.

* * *

A short while later they arrived on a beach at the bottom of some cliffs on Hoenn Isle. "Hmm… Cliffs have been known to be a good source of fossils elsewhere so we should comb this beach for any and then take a look at the cliffs. That way we can hopefully find some fossils for you guys." The others agreed and they all split up to search the beach.

They returned to the same spot around an hour later and Ash had managed to find two fossils while nobody else had anything. "Hey guys, I found this root fossil just lying on the beach and then saw this claw fossil sticking out of the cliff face. Did you guys manage to find anything?"

"Nothing." Replied Cynthia and Misty dejectedly.

"I found a claw fossil in the cliffs as well Ash, I was wondering if you could get it out for me." Tracey told them excitedly.

"Sure I can. Hold on a minute though, all the fossils we found on this island were of Pokémon once native to Hoenn while all the fossils we found on Kanto Isle were from Kanto and Johto. Perhaps the islands hold fossils of Pokémon once native to the region they all look like." Ash suggested.

"That's not a bad theory Ash and it does fit the evidence so far." Tracey said.

"Then maybe we'll find a skull fossil on Sinnoh Isle then, I always thought the Cranidos they came from were cool so it would be awesome to find one of them." Cynthia said as she cheered up.

"In that case we'll stop there next and see if we can find some. For now let's get that claw fossil out and I'll make lunch." That was exactly what they did. Ash used his tools to remove the fossil from the cliff face for Tracey and then he made lunch for everyone which they ate happily.

* * *

After lunch the group set out for and arrived at Sinnoh Isle. "Why don't we try this islands version of Mount Coronet? It's right in the middle and we might find some fossils amongst all the loose rocks there." Cynthia suggested.

"Sure, that sounds like a good idea to me." Ash confirmed before they set off towards their second mountain of the day. They found a natural pathway and followed it up the mountain until they found an area covered in scree and boulders. "This looks like the best place to search for some fossils to me." Ash said and upon the agreement of everyone else they once again split up to look for fossils.

They met up again a half hour later and this time it was Misty and Tracey who had found nothing. "I found these two fossils but I don't know what they are, the only fossils I've investigated so far were those in the closest regions to home." Ash said as he revealed the two.

"Hmm… That one's a skull fossil and the other is an armour fossil. You're getting really lucky today Ash, you seem to be finding one of every fossil there is." Cynthia explained, pointing at each fossil in turn.

"Yeah I am, so that's the skull fossil you wanted in your hands then?"

"Yep, I think there are supposed to be some fossils unique to Unova as well so we should probably explore Unova Isle as well. You never know what we might find."

With that said they set off back to the beach and then Unova Isle. On Unova Isle they searched through the tunnels of another mountain and Ash ended up finding a pair of feather-like fossils and a turtle shell-like fossil. He kept them all, deciding to give the second feather-like fossil to Brock when they next met. After that the group stayed the night on Unova Isle before heading out to sea once again the next day.

* * *

After nearly getting run down by a pair of passing boats Ash and his friends had followed said boats to an uninhabited island. Upon arrival they found that the boats had contained a news crew that had come to the island intent on reporting on research into what they deemed 'the Kabuto mystery'.

Following the news crew led them to a base camp for some sort of exploration or archaeological dig. It seemed the investigation was caused by the discovery of a Kabuto fossil that had apparently been dislodged from the island.

"Hmm… I would have thought that the Grandpa Canyon incident would have got more attention that this, especially considering the public were able to get involved too." Ash commented as he watched the reporters doing their job.

"Yeah, maybe it just sprung up and ended so quickly that no news crews had a chance to get there in time?" Misty proposed.

"That makes sense. Wait; is that Nurse Joy in charge of the project?" Ash replied as a Nurse Joy answered questions about the project following a request from the reporters to speak to the director.

"It would seem so. Do you think we should try and get involved in the project as well once the reporters leave Nurse Joy alone?" Cynthia asked.

"It sure sounds like fun to me." Tracey added.

"Then we'll do it." Ash confirmed.

A short while later, the reporters had left Nurse Joy to look over their recordings and Ash took the opportunity to ask Nurse Joy about joining them. It didn't take an awful lot of convincing for her to let them join the team and they soon set off for the dig site.

As they were walking along the path that had been chosen Ash became aware of something. A single human presence was following them a short way behind the group. Ash moved over to his friends and whispered to them. "There's someone following us guys and they don't want us on this island so keep an eye out for anything that might cause trouble."

"Are you sure Ash?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes, I'll do my best to figure out their plans myself but I might not be able to figure it out in time so we'll all have to stay aware. I won't bother telling Nurse Joy yet because the crew probably won't believe me."

"Well I thought I might have caught a glimpse of someone behind us a couple of times but I thought I was just seeing things, apparently I'm not." Tracey added.

"Alright then, I'll keep my eyes peeled." Cynthia told him.

"Me too." Misty added.

They continued down the path and soon the two Growlithe with the group came to a stop. "What's the matter Growlithe?" Their trainer asked as they growled at something.

"What are we stopping for?" Nurse Joy asked.

"I think these Growlithe hear something up ahead." The trainer explained.

"Up ahead? Oh, that's just a big rock Growlithe."

"It's the person behind the rock that's caught their attention." Ash explained as he approached her. "I don't know who he is but he wants us off this island and is planning to try and stop us."

"But how Ash?" Cynthia asked as she walked up next to him.

"I don't know… Unless… They wouldn't…" He noticed the rock twitch slightly. "They would. Run! Someone's going to push that rock!" Ash yelled and yanked Cynthia with him as he turned to begin running. The second he did so the rock tilted forward and began rolling down the hill towards them.

Everybody in the group started running from it in fear, hoping not to be crushed. Suddenly Cynthia fell forwards beside Ash. He stopped, planning to help her back up but saw that they wouldn't be able to escape the rock then so he did the only thing he could think off. He picked Cynthia up and pushed her past him and steeled himself to perform the most taxing task he ever had.

"Ash!" Cynthia screamed as the boulder reached him but she was happily surprised to see the boulder slow to a stop just in front of Ash as both he and the boulder were engulfed in yellow.

"Raaaaaaaahhh!" Ash roared as the yellow aura surrounding the two grew to even greater levels and suddenly the rock smashed into hundreds of smaller pieces. The group watched in awe of the feat he had just performed as Pikachu and Lucario deflected a few pieces of rock that flown towards them.

Ash fell onto his back as he panted, trying to regain his breath. He felt his hand touch something that was rolling down the slope as he hit the floor and looked at it. Resting in his hand was a small cylinder of smooth metal. _'Hey, this is a Metal Coat. Awesome, now I can evolve a Scyther or Onix. But then, none of my Onix want to evolve and neither does Scyther. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find a use for it sometime.'_ Ash thought before he was startled out of his thoughts by a pair of arms.

The moment Ash fell to the floor; Cynthia ran over to him and pulled him into a sitting position. She embraced him in a tight hug before speaking. "Thank you for saving me Ash but please don't do something so reckless again."

"Hehe… Sorry but I won't make a promise I can't keep. Besides, I've already gone through much more dangerous things than that, all I had to do was muster up all the psychic power I could." Ash reassured her as he returned her hug, not quite sure why he was doing so. Then he felt something, an emotion was present in both of them but it was hidden so deeply and well that he couldn't distinguish it as it was now, he needed it to get bigger for that to happen.

The pair released each other as everyone else recovered from their shock and began to approach them. "W-what just happened?" Nurse Joy stuttered.

"Well Cynthia tripped and I realised the boulder would catch up to us if I didn't stop it, so I used my psychic powers to destroy it before it could." Ash explained.

"You have psychic powers?" Nurse Joy inquired.

"Yes, that's also how I knew there was someone behind that rock before and that they pushed it."

"What!? Do you know who it was?"

"No, but I think it might have been someone who lived here. If they do then they live alone. They'd also been following us since we left camp but I decided not to bring it up as you probably wouldn't have believed me and I wasn't sure if they were actually planning anything."

"In that case we'd all better be on our guard for more problems like that."

"Indeed."

"Incredible!" The reporter shouted from almost right beside Ash, making him flinch. "This young boy has destroyed the massive boulder that was bearing down on us with his psychic powers. Using those same powers he has found that it was actually an attempt to obstruct the search team. Whatever will happen next?"

The moment the cameras had stopped recording she turned to speak to Ash. "Do you think we could have an interview with you once this is all over, about your skills and contribution to the project?"

"Sorry but I'm not interested." Ash told her plainly.

"Oh come on, you'll be famous! And we'll pay you well."

"Winning the Indigo League made me pretty famous already and I also have a fair sum of money already so that isn't going to convince me." The crew froze as they hadn't realised just who had asked to accompany them.

"Well, well, well. Who would have thought you were a league champion? But if that's not enough I could always make it worth your while myself, I wouldn't mind with a cutie like you." She told him in a seductive voice as she pulled at the top of her shirt slightly. This act left Misty and Cynthia fuming with rage and while Misty knew the cause of her rage, Cynthia was perplexed by hers.

"Still not interested." The guys in the group, even Tracey, looked at Ash like he was some sort of alien, they were all dying for the reporter to pull her shirt a bit further yet he just outright rejected her. The females all sighed with relief, Nurse Joy thinking that he was still far too young for such things and that she would have to report the reporter. "Nurse Joy, I suggest we get moving again. If we stay in one place for too long it will give whoever is trying to stop us more chances to do so."

"You're quite right Ash. Okay everybody, let's move out." Nurse Joy ordered and the group began moving once more. A while later they came across a large bay with a rocky beach at the base of some cliffs and a large cave.

Once they had set up a new camp to act as their base of operations the crew set to work on trying to find some fossils. The group took up a pickaxe each and set to work on breaking off pieces of rock for further examination.

As time wore on the group got hotter and hotter in the burning sunlight and several of the men present removed their shirts to cool down. When Ash did the same Misty and Cynthia couldn't help but stare at his muscles as the rippled while he worked, even Nurse Joy stopped working to watch him for a minute before realising what she was doing and getting back to work.

Unfortunately the calm and excited atmosphere was interrupted when Ash felt the presence from earlier return with another plan in mind, what it was he couldn't tell though. "Everybody be careful! The guy from earlier is back and he's got another plan!" Ash shouted and everyone stopped working to try and figure out what would happen.

Ash saw the plan first. On the cliffs above Cynthia rested a group of loose boulders and the person had just reached them. "Cynthia! Look out above you!" She heard him and looked up just as the boulders started falling. She dived out of the way of one but another one was now falling towards her and she couldn't escape in time.

"Obsidian, protect the others from the rocks with Lucario! Pikachu come with me!" Ash yelled as he released the gargantuan rock snake and set off towards the girl in a sprint. Cynthia closed her eyes as she waited for the boulder to strike but was surprised to find that it didn't. She opened her eyes to find Ash's bare chest above her as he sat on all fours above her protectively.

The boulder was held above him by his psychic powers but he didn't have the power to crush it himself this time. "Pikachu, use iron tail to smash that boulder." He managed to grunt, clearly exhausted by all the work he had done in the day. Pikachu heard Ash and quickly destroyed the boulder, the moment Ash no longer had to support it he collapsed on top of Cynthia while he regained his breath.

What Ash failed to notice was the rather awkward position he had landed in. Still naked from the waist up he had fallen in such a way that his head landed on the softer portion of her chest. Cynthia had been blushing slightly simply from having him hovering over her but now her face was a bright crimson as he rested. _'This is so embarrassing… But it's weird, I don't mind as much as I would have thought I would.'_ She thought as he finally realised the position he was in and clambered off.

"I'm so sorry Cynthia! I didn't realise what I was doing, please don't hurt me." Ash pleaded, knowing that if she had been Misty he would have been unconscious already. As it was she was still displeased and walked over to strike him over the head with her mallet. What she had not expected to happen was for the blow to end up knocking his head into Cynthia's lap for the second time since they had met.

However, Cynthia was still oblivious as to the awkwardness of this situation and let him recuperate there while she berated Misty. "Honestly Misty, what is wrong with you? For a start, the only person who would have reason to be angry with him is me and I wasn't so you had no right to hit him. Secondly, how could you not realise that was an accident? He was clearly exhausted from everything he's done today so he couldn't help it. Finally, and most importantly, I thought you said you loved him and were trying to win him over. You've come close to knocking Ash out twice in the few days I have known you guys, how can you expect him to fall for you if you keep doing that to him?"

Misty took a step back in shock, she had not expected Cynthia to go on such an angry tirade, in fact she had expected Cynthia to support her actions wholeheartedly. This gave Misty pause for thought as she considered her actions. _'Hmm… She's right about it clearly being an accident so why did I do it? I suppose I could have been jealous of Cynthia but then I would have actually knocked him out if I had been in her place. Ahh… Why can't I get my head around this?'_

Due to her inability to draw any further conclusion Misty simply hung her head in shame. "Wow Cynthia, you're obviously something pretty special if you can get Misty to act like that." Ash joked as he raised himself up from her lap. _'Hmm… I kind of just wanted to stay there for the rest of the day, it was so comfy. But for some reason I get the feeling that would be bad.'_

Misty had to struggle very hard to stop herself from hitting Ash again after that joke but she knew Cynthia was right and she would have to stop hitting Ash all the time if she wanted to win his heart. It was only after calming herself down that she noticed the incredibly faint blush on Cynthia's cheeks. _'Hold on, does she like Ash too? Surely not, she only just met him for crying out loud. But he did save her life twice today after all so maybe that's triggered something for her. I'll have to talk to her about it later.'_

"Incredible!" The reporter exclaimed before she went off on another rant about how Ash had saved the day and again tried him to give her an interview. She even tried the same methods as before and this time the girls snapped.

"Just what do you think you're doing!?" Cynthia, Misty and Nurse Joy yelled. Misty looked at Cynthia curiously as Cynthia looked at Nurse Joy in the same way. "He's far too young for the things you're proposing so just leave him be. I'm already planning to report you to your boss so I suggest you don't give me anything more to complain about." Nurse Joy finished.

Ignoring the girls Ash focused on locating the one responsible for the attacks and found them quickly. He darted off, intent on capturing the man and had Obsidian raise him, Lucario and Pikachu up to the top of the cliff where they continued the chase. "Lucario, use your psychic attack to hold him in place."

Lucario obliged and the man was stopped in his tracks by a blue glow. That was all Ash needed to catch up with the man and once he reached the man he had Lucario release him while Ash got him into an arm lock to stop him from going anywhere. "Why do you keep attacking us?" Ash asked firmly.

"Leave this island before it's too late." The man growled as he tried to escape Ash's grip. The others caught up with them moments later.

"Is that the guy who keeps throwing those rocks?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, this is him alright. Now you better give me a good reason for this if you don't want me to get angry, you've put all my friends in great danger and nearly killed one of them twice so I'm already pretty close to blowing. Oh, I suppose I should tell you that the last time I got more angry than I am now I burnt a building down."

The man gulped before quickly answering Ash. "Alright, alright. I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect us from what?" Ash asked, he could sense the truth in this man's words but he couldn't understand the cause of them.

"Hear and heed the ancient prophecy!" The man exclaimed dramatically as a random lightning bolt flashed behind him from the clear skies. "'When the scavengers arrive the moon will glow an angry red, the land itself will vanish and be swallowed by the sea!"

"What does that mean?" Cynthia asked.

"If you disturb this island you will bring about great harm." The man continued.

"But we didn't come here because we wanted to do any harm to the island." Nurse Joy argued. "We came here to study Kabuto fossils and that's all. We don't want to harm anything."

"You cannot disturb what lies here. Now go!"

"Who are you to start blaming us for disturbing your precious island? You're the one who's disturbing the island by rolling those boulders and causing those rock slides Mister." Misty shouted at the man.

"Calm down Misty!" Ash said, his voice commanding, and she fell silent. "He truly believes what he is saying and I don't think that's the kind of disturbance he means. That sounds like some sort of ancient prophecy to me so it's probably a disturbance with more meaning than that."

"Well at least you've got some brains young man. That's right, I don't know what it is but there is something important to this island on it and it can easily be disturbed. I've been protecting this island for the last thirty years and I'm not about to stop now."

"I'm sorry sir but I can't call off such a major excavation simply because of an old prophecy." Nurse Joy told the man. Ash had a growing feeling that something bad was going to happen and suddenly the world around him disappeared for a moment and he saw something else entirely.

* * *

Ash was high in the air and all he could see was the island falling apart. It happened quickly, leaving barely any time for escape and high in the skies was a blood red moon.

* * *

Ash gasped as he came back to reality. "Are you alright Ash?" Cynthia asked as she saw him try not to stumble.

"Yeah, but it was weird. It was almost like I saw the prophecy coming true."

"_I think that you may have Ash. It has been rumoured that those with both aura and psychic powers are capable of seeing slightly into the future if the two powers fuse. I would propose that your latent aura briefly fused with your psychic powers and as a result you had the vision."_ Mewtwo told Ash from within his pokéball.

"Interesting…" Ash mumbled before they were all interrupted by one of the researchers approaching.

"We've found one! We've found one! We've just found another Kabuto fossil!"

"Oh, let's see it." Nurse Joy said before she led the others back to the excavation site. Ash followed reluctantly with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"_Obsidian, could you go back to where the boats are docked and bring them here? I have a feeling we might need them later on."_ Ash requested.

"_Of course Ash. It is always best to trust your instincts as well as your mind."_ The Onix replied before, back at the beach, it disappeared under the waves to go and collect the boats.

When they arrived back at the campsite night was quickly approaching and the researcher led them into the cave in the cliffs.

"There it is." He said as he shone his torch on the wall to reveal several fossils embedded in it.

"There's no doubt about it, this is a genuine Kabuto!" Nurse Joy exclaimed cheerfully.

"Umm… Nurse Joy?" Ash questioned as he looked all over the cavern. "You do realise this whole cave looks to be composed of Kabuto fossils don't you?"

Suddenly Ash felt just like he had before he had his 'vision' earlier.

* * *

Ash was in the centre of the cavern and rocks began falling around them as it started to collapse. He saw one of them fall towards Cynthia and another version of himself desperately try to save her but fail. As the rock crushed her he screamed her name in a panic. As the debris cleared he could see something in the sky, the same blood red moon as earlier.

* * *

"What's the matter Ash, why did you scream my name?" Ash heard Cynthia ask as he came back to his senses. He hadn't realised that he had shouted her name out loud and blushed slightly in embarrassment. But at that moment he noticed a hairline fracture grow slightly bigger in the rock above Cynthia.

He grabbed her hand and yanked her towards him. She fell into his chest and was about to ask what he was doing when a large rock fell into the space she had just been stood in. "Everybody out! The cave's about to collapse!" Ash roared as he began running towards the entrance with Cynthia's hand still in his own, not noticing the ever so slight blush on her cheeks.

Everybody made it outside the cave just before it collapsed and Ash was glad to see that the boats were in the bay. Obsidian reared out of the water, shocking everyone, and spoke to his trainer. _"Ash, this entire island is made of Kabuto fossils and it's starting to collapse. You have to get off the land before it is too late."_

"Thanks for the advice Obsidian, now return. Everyone onto the boats, the island is collapsing!" Ash yelled and the excavation team and news team hastily complied. He had got everything else correct so far today so why would that stop now.

Once everyone was on-board the boats Ash noticed that the moon was exactly the same colour as it had been in his visions. He turned to look at the island and noticed something incredible. The fossils were losing the colour of the rock and returning to the colour of their living forms. _'It couldn't be could it…? Is the red moonlight restoring the Kabuto's life?'_ He wondered.

They all watched in awe as Ash's question was answered and the island collapsed into a veritable army of living Kabuto. Ash got the shock of his life when he felt his backpack move slightly. _'Wait a sec; did it revive my Kabuto fossil too?'_

He took off his bag and looked inside to find a Kabuto looking up at him. It stared at him for a few moments before it said anything. _"Will you be my friend?"_ It asked sadly. _"Nobody ever wanted to be my friend before."_

"_Of course I'll be your friend. I love all Pokémon, why don't you say hello to two of my other Pokémon? This is Pikachu and this is Lucario."_ Ash said, introducing his companions.

"_Hey Kabuto! Welcome to the family!"_ Pikachu cheered.

"_Indeed, it is always nice to find a new friend."_ Lucario added.

The Kabuto made a sound that Ash thought was probably delight as it climbed one of his arms and sat atop his head. The crew gasped as they saw the Pokémon leave his bag and climb to its new perch happily. "Hmm… It seems that the moonlight only affects Kabuto fossils. All my other fossils haven't changed in the slightest." Ash observed.

"Other fossils?" Joy questioned.

"Yes, I have one of every fossil from Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova. Well, I don't have a Dome Fossil now as it's just come back to life as this little guy and I don't have any amber that might hold Aerodactyl DNA as I actually caught two live Aerodactyl when I found all the fossils. Before you ask, I'm not going to tell you where I found them because I've learnt from my experiences. I was at both the Grandpa Canyon incident and this incident and both have ruined the local area. Who knows what would happen if someone went exploring where I found these." Ash explained. Making quite sure nobody would push him for more information.

The group returned to watching the spectacle and the Kabuto slowly began swimming off in pair until only one was left behind. "Hey, why do you think they're swimming off in pairs?" Misty asked.

"Maybe each pair is a mating pair." Tracey suggested.

"I think you're right Tracey which makes me feel sorry for the one that got left behind." Ash said.

"_Hey! Do you think he'd be my mate?"_ Ash's Kabuto asked eagerly.

"Maybe he would Kabuto, why don't you go and ask? And if he agrees and neither of you minds, would you like to be my Pokémon?"

"_Sure, I'll go and ask him!" _She exclaimed gleefully before jumping over the edge of the ship and swimming towards the lone Kabuto.

"What's going on Ash, why is Kabuto going over there?" Cynthia inquired.

"Well she wants to ask it to be her mate and if he doesn't mind the idea of being my Pokémon then they'll both become my Pokémon." Ash explained.

"Wow…" Cynthia mumbled.

A few minutes later the two Kabuto swam over to the ships and scaled the side of the ship Ash was on before dropping down in front of him. _"He said yes!" _His old fossil cheered. _"So can we be your Pokémon now as he agreed?"_

"Of course you can be my Pokémon, here we go then." Ash said as he placed two pokéballs on the floor in front of the Kabuto and they tapped them and got sucked inside. The pokéballs confirmed the capture immediately and he picked them up before posing. "We just caught two Kabuto!" He cheered as Pikachu and Lucario cheered with him.

"Hey Ash, now that I think about it, that means you have two breeding pairs of fossil Pokémon that are almost impossible to come across usually. What will you do if you get eggs from them, raise them?" Tracey pointed out.

"I-I don't know. I wouldn't want to have too many of them, having thirty Tauros is definitely confusing at times, but I'm not sure what else to do."

"You could always trade them." Cynthia suggested. "People would be willing to trade really strong or rare Pokémon, or their eggs, for the egg of a fossil Pokémon."

"I suppose I could as I wouldn't have captured them, trained them and formed a bond with them like I have with most of my Pokémon which is why I don't trade. But I wouldn't want to separate them from their parents, let alone that early."

"Well you don't have to do it until the egg has had some time to develop and you could always talk to your Pokémon about this before anything happens and get their opinions on it."

"I guess you're right Cynthia, it's something to think about at least." Ash confirmed before he suggested that they all get some sleep on the ship and set out the next day for their next destination.

* * *

**So I hope you liked it and please let me know what you thought.**

**Oh, by the way I know that my move with the region isles was kind of overpowered but I want him to have all of them in the future as you probably guessed. I'm not going to have them all brought back to life straight away or anything though, he'll have to wait to get them all. But the other thing is that it would be such a pain to have to do an adventure to get them all in the future as it isn't like he could even take them from the incidents where they've been seen as all those have been part of research studies or protected for other reasons if I remember rightly.**


End file.
